School closures extended for May

Home teaching only for rest of academic year

Schools in Marin and five other Bay Area counties will remain closed through the end of the school year, health officers and county schools superintendents announced Tuesday.

All schools will continue to provide instruction through distance learning, said Mary Jane Burke, Marin County superintendent of schools.

“It is important to remember that our students’ learning and our teachers’ instruction is ongoing,” Burke said in the statement. “School is open though campuses may remain physically closed. We value every day of instruction, whether onsite or at home, and our schools pledge to do all we can to support our students, families, staff and community during this challenging time.”

In addition to providing student instruction through distance learning, school districts will continue to distribute school meals and provide child care for health care workers and essential workers as determined by local needs, Burke added.

“We agreed to this decision for the health and safety of our communities at large,” Burke said.

This decision builds on the regional coordination the Bay Area jurisdictions took in issuing the health order for all residents to “shelter in place” to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“This is obviously not a decision that is made lightly, and we recognize the stress and challenge it places on families,” said Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s deputy public health officer. “It is, however, a decision that

puts the priority on the health and safety of families and the community in Marin and the Bay Area.”

Marin has 148 confirmed cases, with 27 hospitalizations and 10 deaths — 1,780 people have been tested, Marin officials said.

This school closure decision follows a statement earlier this month by Gov. Gavin Newsom and state

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond suggesting that California’s students would not likely be able to return to campus for in-person learning for the remainder of this school year.

“Our schools understand the impact of this order and the additional responsibilities it places on families in our community,” Burke

said. “It will take patience and understanding by all of us as schools transition into a new way of teaching and learning to meet the health and safety impacts of COVID-19. Working together we can and will meet this challenge.”

In the coming days and weeks, districts will provide families with information regarding how grades,

graduation, transcripts, scholarships and continued distance learning instruction will be handled.

Guidance is being provided by the California Department of Education, Burke said.

The other Bay Area counties joining the decision were Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco.