Students in Rock Valley in Northwest Iowa are headed back to class on Thursday, a little more than two months after severe flooding left both public and private school buildings badly damaged.
When the Rock River rushed out its banks in late June, it damaged 40 percent of homes in Rock Valley. It also flooded classrooms and ruined books at Rock Valley Community Schools and Rock Valley Christian School.
State and local officials spent the next eight weeks scrambling to get the schools ready to reopen. Gov. Kim Reynolds visited Rock Valley on August 29 to thank local and state officials for helping to get the school year started.
Rock Valley Schools Superintendent Matt Van Voorst (VOHR-st) says the district did meet its goal to have all students learning in person.
The public school buildings are still under repair. Some classes will meet at a local church or in a 7,000 square foot modular building with six classrooms that were built for the district. The facility is fitted with wireless Internet and smart boards.
“When I visited right after the storms, Rock Valley’s K-12 public school building was an island completely surrounded by water. Now, the district is prepared to welcome its students back,” Reynolds said last week.
“This was no small feat. The adversity this community has endured without breaking, matched with emergency response from federal and state agencies, business partners, and my team is a remarkable example of crisis collaboration and the reason we’re all here today.”
Many other Iowa schools first had classes on August 23.
Gov. Reynolds directed the Iowa Department of Education to use nearly $600,000 in available federal education funds to reimburse schools for destroyed instructional materials.
542 homes in Rock Valley were impacted by the storms and 60 businesses were damaged. Recovery assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delivered $12.9 million in financial aid to Rock Valley households.
The state’s Disaster Recovery Temporary Housing Program has provided more than 100 trailers in which 300 people in Sioux and Clay Counties are now living.
*A public info meeting on a controversial option for Knife River Midwest to add a business development will take place on Wednesday evening in Sioux City.
Some social media users have pushed back on the possibility of the Knife River coming to the Leeds area of the city, at 3700 Jefferson Street.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at North Middle School. People are invited to hear to discuss the site plan and ask questions, and there will not be a formal presentation.
Knife River Midwest performs general contracting work in asphalt and concrete paving, such as streets, sidewalks, and driveways.
*Additionally, Governor Reynolds says she’ll take some time to pick a new lieutenant governor after Adam Gregg resigned Tuesday to lead the Iowa Bankers Association.
Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair is next in the line of succession until Reynolds appoints a new lieutenant governor.
Reynolds says she won’t announce a new lieutenant governor before she leaves for a trade mission to India next week.
“I became aware of it last Friday. (Gregg) sat down and visited, and said that this opportunity had been presented for him, and, you know, I support his decision, you know, to focus on family.
This is a very demanding job, and it really requires a lot of sacrifices. And so you know I understand him wanting to spend more time with his family,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds was the lieutenant governor and became governor after Terry Branstad left to be the U.S. Ambassador to China in 2017. She appointed Gregg as acting lieutenant governor, and they were elected to full terms in 2018 and 2022.
Reynolds declined to say if she’ll run for a third term in 2026.
*In other news, a Polk County District Court Judge has ordered the state to delay the certification of ballots while three Libertarian congressional candidates try to get back on the ballot.
Republican officials on Iowa’s state objection panel voted last week to remove the three candidates from the ballot. They agreed with Republican objectors who said the Libertarians didn’t follow state law regarding the timing of their county conventions.
First District candidate Nicholas Gluba, Third District candidate Marco Battaglia, and Fourth District candidate Charles Aldrich appealed that decision to the district court.
Judge Michael Huppert issued a court order Tuesday granting their request to pause the state’s process of approving ballots for printing until he can give the case a full hearing. A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
* The Sioux City School Board has changed its application deadline for community volunteers who would like to join its Educational Equity Committee.
Applications must be submitted by September 13.
The Educational Equity Committee members advise the Sioux City School District on the coordination and development of policies, programs, resources, and methods that increase maximum achievement for all students in a multicultural, gender-fair environment.
