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ISEA calls education guidance 'irresponsible and tragic'

While Iowa's largest school district, Des Moines Public Schools, says they'll require face masks in the fall, it is not a requirement statewide.

IOWA, USA — Local 5 News: It's not just Iowa parents who are frustrated with the guidelines from the state, but teachers. You're not very impressed with the state's "Return to Learn" guidelines. In your opinion, what is wrong here?

Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek: Well, pretty much the entire document ... is wrong. 

It was very irresponsible and tragic for the Department of Education and the Iowa Department of [Public] Health to come out with guidelines that are so minuscule. 

The CDC is referenced throughout the document and the Iowa guidelines are even less restrictive ... less information-giving than the national CDC. I simply don't understand why our guidelines are less than what is established at the CDC, which needs to be even stronger. And so we were terribly, terribly disappointed and outraged [Thursday] when we saw the lack of guidance that was provided in the guidelines that were presented.

Local 5: [Gov. Reynolds] was trying to suggest that temperature checks and no mandatory face masks was somehow still in line with CDC guidelines. So it sounds like she and and your group can't even agree on that part of it.

Beranek: No, not really. If you turn on the news, just the past few days, everyone will see that our cases are increasing here in Iowa. 

[Thursday], when the guidelines came out, we had 628 new positive cases identified and that's the fifth-highest since this has all begun. And what is happening in Texas and Arizona and Florida and other parts of our country, it's incredibly alarming that we would assume that we shouldn't even check students when they enter a building or enter in a classroom of 28 to 40 students or higher.

And I don't understand why science is not being utilized the way that it should. There are health specialists all across this country that are telling us that there are certain precautions that we need to implement in society and certainly in our schools, and nowhere in this guideline, are there any indications of science being paid attention to.

Local 5: Your group is basically hitting the reset button and just suggesting to schools that they go ahead and make their own guidelines. Is that right? 

Beranek: Absolutely. If the guidance can't come from the state then it really needs to depend on on the local board of education, school administrators, the educators that work in our schools, as well as the community, in order to keep that community safe. 

There are nuances that can be made. People can make modifications in the plans that they have turned in to the Department of Ed as of July 1. However, that is taking for granted that districts will do that. And that may not be the case. 

But we will have students that show up to our schools, and we will have employees who enter those doors. And so we can't take for granted any of the environments that we have here in our state. We need to have strict guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all of the folks that are in our public schools.

RELATED: Districts get to decide if face masks will be required in Iowa schools

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