House Democrats in Congress lost enough seats in this month's elections that they'll have the smallest majority in more than a century according to the Associated Press.
To find out what happened, the party has already begun a “deep dive” examination, looking at the party’s move farther left on national issues and how they would fix the economy greatly impacted by COVID-19.
Siouxland Public Media talked to one of the state’s top elected Democrat leaders for his insight. Chris Hall was first elected to the Iowa House of Representative 10-years ago and was quickly appointed to leadership roles.
Representative Hall also talked about COVID-19 being the main focus for lawmakers when the next legislative session starts in January. Siouxland Public Media' Sheila Brummer also asked Hall about his thoughts on the state response to the pandemic and the current course of the Sioux City Community School District where stuents will continue to attend in-person classes for the next two weeks.
The Sioux City Community School Board on Monday night held its regular meeting and talked about suspending in-person classes as coronavirus cases continue to show up in schools. Several classrooms and all of West Middle School have now gone virtual.
The board voted down a plan to go to hybrid learning for two weeks after Thanksgiving and two weeks when school resumes after winter break. Students started the year using the hybrid form. Some board members said the plan was too hard on teachers. Others said students would find it difficult to switch from in-person to hybrid and back again.
The board will have a chance to revisit changing learning plans at its next meeting on December 14th.
The board elected new officers as well. Perla Alarcon-Flory is the new board president, and Monique Scarlett will service as vice-president. Both will serve one-year terms.
