The South Tama County school district announced Saturday afternoon that plans will continue forward for a return to a 50/50 hybrid, in-person class schedule on Nov. 30 after a two-week period of remote learning.

The district cited staff attendance as the primary data point driving their remote learning decision. On Nov. 10 the school announced that over 30 staff members were absent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Nov. 25 the district reported the number of staff still in quarantine or isolation had dropped from 30 down to four.

Tama County’s 14-day positivity rate has also decreased from over 22% down to 16.1% according to South Tama’s COVID-19 data dashboard on Nov. 28. There are currently 47 STC students or staff that are in quarantine or isolation due to the pandemic and between 2-10 students that are still considered active positive cases.

South Tama has been conducting 100% remote instruction since Nov. 16.

The return to in-person learning will be for all grade levels as grades 6, 7 and 8 will begin using the Partnership Center facility in Tama on Nov. 30. Expedited renovation work has taken place at the Partnership Center since the beginning of the school year after the August derecho wind storm critically damaged the STC Middle School building in Toledo.

Elsewhere in Tama County, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district is also set to return to in-person learning on Nov. 30 after a similar two-week remote period. North Tama schools returned to in-person learning on Nov. 23 after a two-week remote learning period and Meskwaki Settlement Schools are scheduled to conduct a three-day remote learning period from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.