Stanislaus State to cancels face-to-face classes; 2 more cases in San Joaquin County
Stanislaus State University on Thursday announced it will cancel face-to-face classes to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has prompted schools and organizations across the county to take precautions.
Classes can keep meeting on the Turlock and Stockton campuses until next Wednesday, university officials said, and professors will be given two days to prepare for online instruction before spring break begins on March 23.
All Stanislaus State, classes must be taught online by April 2, officials said, so the university will provide students laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots upon request.
In other related news tied to the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday:
- As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Stanislaus County announced no new positive COVID-19 cases. However, San Joaquin County announced two more positive cases, bringing its total to three. It also declared a public health emergency.
- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton was scheduled to meet to discuss plans on how to handle services, and other places of worship were preparing their plans. Other area places of worship were making plans.
- The Gallo Center for the Arts has canceled all shows through March. Its website said the theater is attempting to reschedule the shows.
- Love Modesto, the annual community volunteer event scheduled for April 25, was postponed until Oct. 3.
Several events in and around Modesto were either being canceled or postponed. The latest were: the Stanislaus County Commission for Women’s Outstanding Women of Stanislaus County honoree dinner on March 21; the Opportunity Stanislaus’ Celebrate the Central Valley at River Oaks in Ceres, slated for March 17; and the Opera Modesto event for Sunday Afternoons at CBS series scheduled for this Saturday, March 15.
The California Interscholastic Federation was expected to meet to discuss possibly scrapping the spring sports season while the California Collegiate Athletic Association, of which Stanislaus State is a member, is canceling all spring sports until further notice. The Modesto Junior College Athletic Department was having discussions Thursday afternoon about its spring sports schedule.
Meanwhile, Modesto Junior College and local school districts said in-person classes will continue as scheduled while officials follow state and local guidance to protect their school communities against the coronavirus.
Turlock Unified School District on Thursday canceled its Festival on the Green scheduled for March 21 because Gov. Gavin Newsom requested all events with more than 250 people be canceled through the end of the month. The district also canceled SAT testing at Pitman High School on Saturday for the same reason, adding that make-up options will be provided.
Possible Central Valley High prom change
The outbreak may also affect the location of Central Valley High’s prom, said Ceres Unified School District spokesperson Beth Parker Jimenez, which is planned to happen in a travel-restricted county. The district has restricted non-essential travel to previously approved field trips in counties with confirmed “community spread” cases, including Sacramento and Santa Clara counties. The prom in April has not been canceled, Parker Jimenez said.
“As this is a constantly evolving situation, we continue to monitor developments and adjust as needed,” she said. “We are only looking a few weeks out at this time and making decisions as things change.”
The district is otherwise following recommendations from the Stanislaus County Public Health Services and state public health department, Parker Jimenez said, and postponing non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people. The district will change plans as the situation develops, she added.
Patterson Unified School District is taking the same approach for field trips, said Jeff Menge, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services. The county department of education has not advised the district to suspend in-person instruction, he said.
“All the Stanislaus County superintendents were part of the same phone call where we’re all trying to be consistent in our approach,” Menge said. “We do have in effect additional cleaning standards, We’ve increased our staff time and updated our cleaning standards to try to mitigate the spread.”
At Modesto City Hall, city manager Joe Lopez said officials are keeping employees updated on whether to continue working in the office. No employees are working from home to mitigate risk of contracting COVID-19, Lopez said, at least to his knowledge.
“City leadership meets daily, in addition to being embedded in the county’s EOC, to review threats and risks to our employees and residents,” Lopez said. “Fire Chief Alan Ernst is our emergency manager and has a robust action plan in play now, which was started weeks ago. As part of our daily meetings, we review public gatherings but have not made any official decisions on that yet.”
Big Valley Grace to have online services
A few Modesto churches are approaching the outbreak in varying ways, from simply providing hand sanitizer and suggesting less person-to-person touching to at least one holding Sunday’s service online only, not at its campus.
Big Valley Grace Community Church will hold its services online, telling members not to go to either its Modesto or Ceres campuses, Executive Pastor Bobby Kirchner said Thursday.
“At this time, we will continue our normal schedule of all other ministries throughout the week,” Kirchner’s email said, including Big Valley Christian School’s preschool through 12th grade classes.
At Congregation Beth Shalom, leaders are telling people to avoid what would be normal physical contact at the synagogue: no hugging or kissing on the cheek or kissing of religious objects. There’s hand sanitizer when people walk in the door and in the social hall before food is served. If they become unable to hold public Seders, people might pick up food ahead of time and then log in on to its website to join the Seder ritual, said Rabbi Shalom Bochner.
“Community is so important and a virtual community is certainly better than no community,” Bochner said, adding it’s part of Jewish tradition to honor health.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
