To comply with the new state law, Tuesday Davenport schools will begin offering 100 per cent in-person learning.
Superintendent T.J. Schneckloth says since the fall the district has offered either a hybrid plan or all virtual learning at home. And he admits to having mixed feelings about welcoming back thousands of students and staff members, five days a week.
"There's some general anxiety about coming back to school, both students and staff. And there's also this underlying, you know, I get to see all of my students every day and really begin to attack that lost learning that we know is out there because there's no replacement for face to face learning."
He estimates about 75 per cent of the district's 14,500 students will return to full-time classes.
The number one mitigation strategy will be masks - at all grade levels, and all the time.
"We're not going to be able to get six feet, our class sizes are large, and so inside of our classrooms and our hallways we're not going to be able to get six feet. The masks are incredibly important."
Stairways and hallways all have one-way signs, there are plexiglass barriers in offices and classrooms, plus hand sanitizer spray bottles everywhere. A big concern is lunch, and they're working on ways to spread everyone out.
Schneckloth says the district held its own vaccination clinic for staff and everyone who wanted one got the first dose.
