Rock Valley schools to reopen Sept. 5 with new temporary facilities after flooding

As the city of Rock Valley recovers from recent severe flooding, Governor Kim Reynolds announced the opening of a temporary school facility for the Rock Valley Community School District in northwest Iowa.

Rock Valley students will return to classrooms on Thursday, Sept. 5, with some high school classes being held in the new temporary building. The 7,000-square-foot facility will have six classrooms, bathrooms, offices and a commons area for use by 150 students in the Rock Valley district, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The modular school was built by Hegg Construction in less than seven weeks, at a cost of $2 million.

Joined by officials from the Rock Valley Community School District (RVCSD) and Rock Valley Christian School, Reynolds spoke in front of the new temporary building at a news conference Thursday. The governor reflected on her previous visit to Rock Valley in June, when the public school building was “an island that was completely surrounded by water.”

“After the flood, it seemed really unlikely that we would be able to get work started on time or get some students back to school,” Reynolds said. “But if there’s one thing I know about this community, it’s that where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Rock Valley was one of the communities that suffered the most significant damage from the June flooding in northwest and north-central Iowa. Reynolds said about 40 percent of Rock Valley’s homes were affected by the flooding, in addition to damage to school facilities, city buildings and businesses.

At the news conference, RVCSD Superintendent Matt Van Voorst said all permanent public school facilities are still under repair. In addition to high school students taking classes at the temporary facilities, some elementary students will have classes at a local church.

Van Voorst said that in the immediate aftermath of the flood, he felt “alone” as he searched for ways to address the damage and prepare for students to return for the upcoming school year. But that feeling soon faded as community members, city and state leaders, superintendents and nearby contractors offered to help the district recover and rebuild in the days and weeks that followed.

“I think saying the word ‘community’ has taken on a new meaning for me,” Van Voorst said. “I think I’m going to bold and underline that, from now on, community has a totally different meaning.”

Sioux County, where Rock Valley is located, was one of multiple counties approved to receive federal aid and disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through President Joe Biden’s Major Disaster Declaration in June. Rock Valley schools in disaster-declared areas, both public and private, have access to $80,000 in federal emergency grants for needs like food and housing for students whose homes were affected by the disaster, according to a statement from the governor.

The state Department of Education has also allocated nearly $600,000 of available federal education funds to reimburse schools in disaster areas for destroyed instructional materials.

Private companies and organizations, including Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Chevron REG, and Corteva, are also providing funding and materials to schools in Rock Valley and other disaster-affected communities, such as Greenfield, for the 2024-2025 school year.

In addition to efforts to assist the school district, federal and state aid is also available for residents whose homes and property were damaged by natural disasters. According to the governor’s office, 542 homes and 60 businesses in Rock Valley were affected by the storms and $12.9 million in FEMA aid has been approved so far for more than 500 Rock Valley households.

In addition to Sioux County, several counties have been approved for federal assistance through three severe weather disaster declarations this year. The governor announced Wednesday that Scott County was also approved for FEMA’s individual assistance program, as well as Dubuque and Jackson counties for Public Assistance for flood-related damages.

Vilsack responds to criticism of USDA aid

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack responded Thursday to accusations that the USDA has done enough for farmers in western Iowa affected by the disaster.

Vilsack, a Democrat and former governor of Iowa, held a town hall meeting titled “Investing in America” in North Liberty, which was reported by The Gazette.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Small Business Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, joined Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the all-Republican congressional delegation in calling on Vilsack to adjust current USDA disaster programs to improve federal assistance available to farmers.

Iowa has experienced multiple disasters in just three months, including two tornadoes and devastating flooding in northwest Iowa that severely impacted rural areas and numerous farms. The letter highlights the differences between USDA and Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster assistance programs and calls on USDA to provide similar access to support for farmers.

Vilsack, speaking to reporters after the town hall, highlighted the USDA’s online disaster tool and the various programs available to farmers.

“You can go online and type in your name, the location of your farm, the nature of the disaster, and what will come up are all the programs with contact information for people who can help you qualify for whatever benefits,” he said. “I think they’re wrong. Actually, they’re completely wrong. There’s been a tremendous amount of help.”

Offering the same level of low- or no-interest loans as the SBA would limit the number of loans available in other states, Vilsack said.

“If we did that in Iowa, it would mean that a lot of loans couldn’t be made to other states because there’s a subsidy rate on everything we do that affects how much money you can lend,” he said. “And if you change that subsidy rate, you limit the total amount of loans that can be made. So to me, the best way to address this is to encourage farmers to use the disaster programs that are out there.”

The Gazette’s Tom Barton contributed to this report.

This article first appeared in Iowa Capital Dispatch.