Governor Kim Reynolds has declined 95 million dollars in federal pandemic aid for schools.

During a town hall last night on Fox News, Reynolds said the 95 million was for surveillance testing of students in Iowa schools. Reynolds said the state doesn’t need money to get kids back in the classroom since most Iowa schools have had in-person classes since August. After the program, the governor’s spokesman provided Radio Iowa with an April 23rd letter the Iowa Department of Public Health sent the Centers for Disease Control. It said Iowa has ample funding and Covid testing capacity for Iowa school districts. The letter asked for state officials to be notified if the money could be spent in a different way, particularly if the 95 million could be used for vaccine distribution.