Iowa

Iowa education leaders propose rules for interpreting controversial law

Published

1 year ago

November 15, 2023

Iowa education leaders propose rules for interpreting controversial law

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Iowa Capitol Bureau) – Senate File 496 brought sweeping changes to education in Iowa. For months, we’ve heard from educators and the state’s teachers that there wasn’t enough guidance on how to comply with the law. Now, they may finally get it.

At the beginning of the school year, some districts were unsure how to deal with students who wished to go by nicknames. Some districts interpreted that as a possible violation of the law because the student was using a name other than the one assigned at birth. The law requires parental permission for that to happen.

Under the proposed new rules, parental permission is no longer required for nicknames unless a student is requesting to go by another name to affirm their gender identity. The Department of Education says districts still must get parental permission if students wish to use pronouns different than the gender they were assigned at birth.

The new law also says districts cannot provide instruction relating to gender identity or sexual orientation to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Also, Senate File 496 requires districts to take out books from school libraries that depict sex scenes. Several schools started making lists of books they believed needed to be removed from school shelves. Now, the Department of Education says books that do not “describe or visually depict a sex act” can remain.

The new guidance states school districts are exempt from that requirement if they share resources with a public library. It only applies to libraries under the direction of school districts.

If these rules are adopted, educators may face penalties starting the first of the year. Under the law, the first time a violation happens, the district will get a written warning. After that, educators may face disciplinary action by the state.

These proposed rules may not be the last word on Senate File 496. Two public hearings are set for January in Des Moines for people who wish to weigh in.

In a statement, the state’s teacher’s union says these proposed rules still don’t do enough to clarify the law.

“The proposed rules do nothing to address the chilling effect the law created. So far, hundreds of book titles have been pulled from shelves across the state and we’ve created ridiculous amounts of paperwork over topics like student nicknames.
“Public education professionals will still continue to spend valuable instructional time trying to meet vague state mandates.”

The Iowa Department of Education declined our request for an interview. The department says it’d be improper to comment during the rulemaking process.

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Iowa

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

5 hours ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.

Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.

New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.

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Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Published

12 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Iowa women’s wrestling took a good portion of its squad to the North Central Open on Sunday, securing three individual titles from Nanea Estrella, Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker.

Bringing 13 wrestlers to the top division of the tournament, with Danni Swihart competing in the B-Division, 11 Hawkeyes finished on the podium in the top division. Even without several starters, the Hawkeyes took second behind only North Central’s mostly full squad.

Iowa’s stars who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois shined, as Estrella, Kilty and Welker combined to go 14-0. They outscored their opponents 131-1 combined.

Alivia White was a surprise, racing to take second at 203 pounds. She defeated teammate Katja Osteen by fall on her way to the finals. Even without Jaycee Foeller, the Hawkeyes had White, Osteen and Samantha Calkins all place at the tournament at 203 pounds.

Accounting for only the results from the A-Division, which housed top wrestlers from each team, North Central had 166.5 team points to Iowa’s 136.5.

It’s hard to compare Iowa and North Central, given the Hawkeyes and CArdinals had limited lineups. The Hawkeyes were without Sterling Dias, Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez, Skye Realin, Reese Larramendy, Kennedy Blades and Foeller to name a few. North Central did not have former Hawkeye Bella Mir or 203-pound No. 2 Traeh Haynes for example as well.

Regardless, having two champions and five finalists suggests the Cardinals will be a challenger once again come the postseason to the Hawkeyes.

Here are the individual results for each wrestler for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa women’s wrestling results from North Central Open

Rianne Murphy – 2nd at 103 pounds (3-1)
Val Solorio – 3rd at 110 pounds (5-1)
Cali Leng – 6th at 124 pounds (3-3)
Ava Rose – DNP at 124 pounds (1-2)
Allie Baudhuin – DNP at 131 pounds (1-2)
Emmily Patneaud – 6th at 131 pounds (2-3)
Nanea Estrella – 1st at 138 pounds (4-0)
Cadence Diduch – 3rd at 138 pounds (5-1)
Danni Swihart (B-Division) – 5th at 138 pounds (3-2)
Macey Kilty – 1st at 145 pounds (4-0)
Kylie Welker – 1st at 180 pounds (6-0)
Samantha Calkins – 4th at 207 pounds (4-2)
Alivia White – 2nd at 207 pounds (3-1)
Katja Osteen – 5th at 207 pounds (3-2, 3-1 vs. non-Hawkeyes)

Match-by-match results can be found on trackwrestling.com

This story was updated to add new information.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa State football lands two wide receivers from transfer portal

Published

20 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Iowa State football lands two wide receivers from transfer portal

Iowa State football brought in some talent on Saturday.

The Cyclones landed two wide receivers from the NCAA transfer portal in Chase Sowell (East Carolina) and Xavier Townsend (UCF).

They both have two years of eligibility remaining.

Here’s some information on the two newcomers:

Chase Sowell stats

2024 (9 games): 34 catches, 678 yards, 3 TDs
2023 (11 games): 47 catches, 622 yards, 1 TD
2022 (1 game): 2 catches, 23 yards

The 6-4, 195-pound wideout enjoyed his best career season in 2024 despite missing three games due to injury, according to 247Sports.

Most impressively, he increased his average yards per reception by 6.7 to 19.9, indicating he can be a big-play threat for the Cyclones.

His best stretch in 2024 came in the middle of the season in back-to-back games against Temple and Army, in which Sowell combined for 11 catches and 255 yards with two scores.