COVID-19 Reopening Guidance: Use of School Facilities
The purpose of this document is to provide general principles that apply to facilities that are somehow related to school districts or accredited nonpublic schools. This guidance is necessary in light of Iowa Governor Kim Reynold’s disaster proclamations of April 27, May 6, May 13 and May 20, 2020, and any subsequent proclamations, which allow facilities in certain areas to open under certain circumstances and permit a limited resumption of summer school activities.
First, until the expiration of all relevant COVID-19 disaster proclamations, a school’s facility may only be reopened or used for interscholastic athletics (such as competitions, practices, or workout sessions) or other school-sponsored activities (such as extracurricular activities, intramural sports or activities, student club meetings, in-person voluntary instruction) if such use is consistent with the governor’s disaster proclamations, guidance of the Iowa Department of Education, and (as applicable) guidance of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU). To the extent that the school’s facility is a community benefit or an enterprise and not school-related (such as child care, religious services operated by a nonpublic school’s governing body, religious services in a space leased from a public school), it may permissibly reopen in a manner consistent with Governor Reynolds’s disaster proclamations.
Second, the use must be consistent with decisions made or authorized by the school’s governing organization. For public school districts, the use must be consistent with and authorized by Iowa Code section 297.9. For nonpublic schools, the use must be consistent with decisions made by the authorities that govern the nonpublic school.
Third, except as otherwise permitted for school-sponsored activities, if a facility associated with a school is permitted to open, members of the school community (students, teachers, other employees) shall not be permitted to use the facility unless they have a right to use the facility independent of their relationship with the school (such as residing in the community allowed to access the facility for no charge, paying dues to the facility, belonging to a religious organization that operates a nonpublic school, or as a benefit of employment).
