With the upcoming school year to start later this month for the Greene County School District, officials are hoping for some resemblance of “normalcy.”

Superintendent Tim Christensen reminds everyone that the state legislature passed a bill that was signed by Governor Kim Reynolds that prevents school districts, cities and counties from mandating masks against COVID-19. He is encouraging any student or staff member to wear a mask if they want to. Christensen shares a message for everyone in the district to focus on observing personal space.

“Maintain your personal space. If everybody does that, we’ll all be a lot better off health-wise, attitude-wise. We like our space, especially here in, I think, rural Iowa. That’s one of the reasons we live here and don’t necessarily live in New York City. We like our three-foot, six-foot, ten-foot of space.”

Greene County Public Health Director Becky Wolf reminds everyone of the protocols whenever someone tests positive for COVID-19, including school-aged children.

“That parent keep that child home and isolated from other family members until ten days after the onset of the symptoms. And then if they are feeling better, they can stop isolating away from everybody else.”

Christensen adds, another change for district staff is blending how education was taught last year to how it was taught before the pandemic, while also continuing to be creative of how to deliver the material to students.