LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS CLOSING DOWN DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: cc via Bing

March 13, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) -- Over half the school districts in San Diego have announced plans to shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak until sometime in April.

East County districts that are shutting down include Alpine Union, Grossmont-Union High School District, Cajon Valley, Dehesa, Jamul-Dulzura, La Mesa-Spring Valley, Lakeside Union, Mountain Empire, and Vallecitos. 

County Health and Human Services asks parents, “We recognize the difficulty that these school closures present for working families. It is important to remember that closing schools is an effort to maintain at least six feet of distance between people and to reduce the number of individuals gathered into a given space to prevent the spread of the virus. While there are still public spaces open and available, including malls, parks, movie theaters, etc., we would ask parents to strongly consider keeping their children home or limited to small groups at this time.”

Nationwide, school closures due to COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, are impacting over 8 million K-12 students, according to EdSource, or nearly a quarter of the 50 million K-12 students in the U.S.

Here are schools locally announcing closures so far:

California’s order to cancel most gatherings did not apply to classrooms, but parents and teachers in some districts had been pressing district officials for action to protect children and educators.

Some schools are making arrangements to provide drive-through school lunches. It is not yet clear how schools will make up for lost teaching time. Check with your child’s school district for details.

Below is a complete list to date of closures and dates of school districts in San Diego, as of this morning:

• Alpine Union School District (through April 13)
• Bonsall Unified School District (through April 6)
• Cajon Valley Union School District (through April 20)
• Carlsbad Unified School District (through April 6)
• Chula Vista Elementary School District (through April 3)
• Coronado Unified School District (through April 3)
• Dehesa School District (through April 17)
• Encinitas Union School District (through April 10)
• Escondido Union Elementary School District (through April 13)
• Escondido Union High School District (through April 10)
• Fallbrook Union High School District (through April 10)
• Grossmont Union High School District (through April 10)
• Jamul-Dulzura Union School District (through April 20)
• La Mesa-Spring Valley School District (through April 10)
• Lakeside Union School District (through April 17)
• Mountain Empire Unified School District (through April 13)
• Oceanside Unified School District (through April 10)
• Poway Unified School District (through April 6)
• San Diego Unified School District (through April 6)
• San Marcos Unified School District
• San Ysidro School District (through April 6 (staff)/April 7 (students)
• Solana Beach School District
• South Bay Union School District (through April 3)
• Sweetwater Union High School District (through April 3)
• Vallecitos School District (through April 14)
• Vista Unified School District (through April 6)