Education update

Iowa school buildings will remain closed for the 2019-20 school year.

Schools have come up with continuous learning proposals that include voluntary educa-tional enrichment opportunities, required educational services, or a combination of the two. They have begun implementing these plans with students through distance learning, which means students will not have to make up missed days of instruction this year.

Schools must now develop “Return to Learn” plans, out-lining how they’ll address stu-dent needs resulting from the academic upheaval of corona-virus. The requirement for schools to start no earlier than August 23 is waived for the 2020-21 school year.

Financial relief for college stu-dents

The federal CARES Act has provided some financial relief for students and for those paying off their student debt.

The bill defers payments and waives interest on federally held student loans until Sep-tember 30. The bill also sus-pends collections of defaulted student loans.

Students are not required to pay back federal student loans and Pell Grants if they with-draw from courses due to the COVID-19 emergency. In addi-tion, students who withdraw will not have this semester counted against their lifetime eligibility for federal financial aid.

Students may continue col-lecting work-study pay, even if they are unable to work due to school and workplace closures. Colleges and universities will also provide emergency aid to students who have had their semester disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Emer-gency aid can include anything related to a student’s cost of attending college—food, hous-ing, course materials, technolo-gy, health care and child care.

Keep in mind, institutions are responsible for distributing the emergency aid to students and will develop their own processes for doing so. The emergency aid must be provid-ed as direct cash payments to students and cannot be used to refund schools for reim-bursements already provided to students.

Learn more at studen-taid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus.

Sen. Amanda Ragan (D-Mason City) serves Franklin, Butler and Cerro Gordo counties in Senate District 27. She can be reached at 515-281-3371 or 641-424-0874. Email her at aman-da.ragan@legis.iowa.gov.