All Stanislaus public schools closing this week because of coronavirus concerns
All public schools in Stanislaus County’s 25 districts will close starting Thursday, the county Office of Education announced Sunday afternoon. Tuolumne County also is closing all public schools.
District superintendents had been scheduled to meet on the matter Monday morning. But the rapidly changing landscape of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has had them communicating by conference calls, emails and texts throughout the weekend, resulting in the decision, county Superintendent Scott Kuykendall told The Bee on Sunday.
The school closure is an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the county office said in a news release. “We did not make this decision lightly and recognize that this may cause a hardship for some families,” Kuykendall said in the release. “The decision was made based on declining student attendance, increased health concerns and community feedback.
“Each school district and charter school will continue to communicate directly with families and staff with updates about reopening, learning alternatives and the availability of school meals.”
In announcements to their staff and families, districts made clear that the closures Thursday rather than immediately are to allow parents and guardians to make arrangements for the care of children. But Kuykendall and individual district superintendents also have said that if it works best for a family for keep children home immediately, those absences will be excused so long as schools are notified and children make up missed schoolwork.
Downey High attendance was “hit hard” after the news Friday that two students at the school were in contact with a family member who tested positive for COVID-19, Kuykendall said. “We expect that more parents will be keeping students home starting tomorrow,” he added.
All district closures will incorporate their spring breaks, Kuykendall said. For some, that will mean a tentative return of Monday, April 20, he said.
An update on the MCS website by Superintendent Sarah Noguchi says schools will close through Sunday, April 5. Her district’s break is March 23-27.
“I strongly feel this is in the best interest of our students and staff. Later this month, we will notify you if there will be an extension to the closure beyond April 5th,” the superintendent said in her message, which also was posted on the district’s Facebook page. “By closing on Thursday, this gives our families who need it time to make arrangements for childcare. However, if the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in our County increases between now and this Wednesday, we will close our schools earlier.“
Initial announcements Sunday by the Patterson and Ceres districts said, campuses would close starting Wednesday. But Kuykendall said all superintendents later agreed to coordinate closure to start Thursday.
Noguchi wrote that during the closure, MCS will continue to provide nutritional services, allowing families to pick up food at schools. A distribution schedule will be out early this week, she said.
“We are also working on providing school work for our students to continue in their education while the schools are closed,” her announcement reads. “This is not finalized at this time, but we will send updates once more information is available.”
And she said that with the exception of essential services, district employees will work remotely.
The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Office posted on Facebook Sunday that its 11 districts all are closing immediately, “in an effort to provide time for planning for a possible long-term shutdown.” Schools will reopen March 30, the Monday after that county’s spring break, “unless conditions call for an extension,” the post reads.
In Modesto, Downey High senior Alex Fuentes said he understands the reason for the school closures, but is saddened about what missing this time — and possibly longer — could mean.
“These are our last couple months of high school and everything is being taken away from us unintentionally by a virus that is unpredictable,” he said. “We’re missing out on sports, prom and maybe even our senior events. Hopefully everything turns out OK so the seniors can make best of the little time they have left of high school before college.”
Enochs High senior Braeden Leonetti said he was surprised schools weren’t closed earlier, given the number of school activities that were being postponed or canceled. “I’m happy, for our safety, that schools will be closing before things get out of hand,” he said.
As for transitioning to online learning? “Very few of my classes have even talked about what would happen,” he said. “But I’m sure the next few days we’ll be preparing for that.”
He said the biggest impact could be in preparing for Advance Placement tests, and learning without the benefit of in-class lectures.
As both a parent of a Beyer High sophomore and a teacher herself, Liz Bauman said she believes the closure needed to happen but is sad for students. “And I’m sad for the educators, because we all know nothing beats face-to-face instruction,” she said.
Creating online lesson plans won’t be hard, she said, but measuring student progress could be. Teachers might not immediately know if students are keeping up on their work, and she suspects that a lot of work won’t get turned in.
At least Modesto City Schools high-schoolers just ended their quarter, she said, and are at a natural point to make the transition.
“I feel for the parents of younger children” as working families try to figure out who’ll look after the kids, she said. She predicts that after just a week, a lot of parents will be feeling the financial pressure to take time off work to care for their little ones.
Bauman said she told her daughter, Hannah, on Sunday, that what’s happening around the world right now isn’t something most of us have seen in our lifetimes. “They’re going to talk about this in the history books — the coronavirus of 2020.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 1:48 PM.
