As public agencies respond to the number of COVID-19 cases continually ticking up in Iowa, Fort Dodge schools are taking precautionary measures and starting to think about plans for a worsening coronavirus scenario.

For now, Fort Dodge Community School District, St. Edmond Catholic School and Iowa Central Community College say it’s business as usual — for the most part.

“We are taking this very seriously,” said Jesse Ulrich, superintendent of public schools. “We’re being cautious but making sure people aren’t overreacting to the hype of the pandemic.”

Ulrich said that FDCSD is relying on the guidance of the Iowa Department of Public Health and Iowa Department of Education to guide school decisions, and will plan to keep school open until told otherwise.

“We are as cool as the other side of the pillow,” he said, “but I’d be lying if I said no one is distracted by the current environment.”

The IDPH and Department of Education recommend against canceling or closing classes for now. Ulrich said that with current laws mandating the number of days schools must be in session, closing for two weeks would force schools to have class until the end of June — assuming only one outbreak arises without further complications.

The only things that have been postponed and canceled so far are state speech competitions and a middle school trip to Washington, D.C., scheduled during spring break next week. Moved up is a deep cleaning of the public schools, scheduled next week while students are gone. Public schools and St. Edmond have noted particular attention to counters, tables, doors and other areas that receive a lot of hand traffic.

“It’s just regular health precautions we’d do for anything,” said Linda Mitchell, principal of St. Edmond Catholic School. “Everybody is trying to be all on the same page and do the best thing for the community.”

She said worst case scenario possibilities of the coronavirus pandemic are currently not a topic of discussion at St. Edmond, but that teachers are reminding students to continue good hygiene, hand sanitizing and hand washing before spring break.

Given that no cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Webster County or surrounding counties, Mitchell described the level of concern there now as low. The closest case to Webster County was one identified by state officials late Thursday afternoon in Carroll County.

Fort Dodge public schools are not certified for online classes, eliminating the option that state universities have utilized as a precaution. To combat the spread of coronavirus, schools are asking families of students returning from travel to affected areas to self-isolate for 14 days. Those days will not be counted against students for absenteeism.

In the event of a confirmed case, Ulrich said the IDPH would recommend a course of action, but until then, school will continue as normal.

Closure of schools for long terms could have far-reaching effects — more than a simple interruption of class for many students. In FDCSD, 65% of students receive free or reduced cost meals. About 20% live below the poverty line. Some children receive their only meals of the day in school, according to Ulrich. Hypothetically, Ulrich said schools closing would need to coordinate safe and orderly efforts to ensure those kids wouldn’t go hungry.

Current law mandates that schools must report to the IDPH when at least 10% of students are absent from any building due to illness.

The serious level of conversations concerning a pandemic is something that Ulrich said he has never seen before — an absence reflected in state education law that doesn’t have any safeguards for pandemics.

Iowa Central

Iowa Central is operating normally, according to President Dan Kinney.

”There are no reported cases in Webster County and that includes Iowa Central, but we continue to monitor what’s happening,” he said.

College leaders have been meeting a couple times a day to discuss the virus and to plan for all sorts of possibilities. Kinney said they have ”war gamed a ton of different scenarios.” He added that they are in regular contact with the representatives of the Iowa Department of Public Health to get information.

He said college buildings receive a ”deep cleaning” in the evenings. He said that custodians are using cleaning products that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined are effective against the coronavirus.

Today is the last day of classes at the college before spring break. Kinney said the current plan is for classes to resume as scheduled on March 23.

Kinney said Iowa Central is benefitting from a ”great partnership” with the city and county governments, UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center, the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Fort Dodge Community School District and local long-term care facilities.

”I think we’re all moving in the right direction,” he said.

”We’ve got to stay ahead of it,” he added.