250 students, faculty members, and parents of students are calling on the Iowa Board of Regents to do more to protect the campuses at the three public universities from COVID-19. An open letter was sent to the Board of Regents along with the presidents of UNI, Iowa State, and Iowa. It references the increased COVID-19 activity in Black Hawk, Story, and Johnson County and argues the return of students from winter break will accelerate that. The letter asks for a universal mask mandate, one or more portable air filter using HEPA air filters in each childcare classroom, CO2 monitor in each classroom and common area, classroom level notifications of positive cases, ability to have university childcare students regularly tested, and paid leave for employees who are caregivers impacted by the COVID case of a dependent and/or wishing to temporarily remove children or other vulnerable dependents from daycare or school settings, regardless of open status of those settings.
