Mass public school closures in Sacramento region as officials try to slow coronavirus spread

Updated noon Saturday with new closures

Every public school district in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties will close starting Monday in a coordinated attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. Some schools in Yolo County will also close.

In total, about 425,000 students in the four-county capital region will be out of school — some for only a week, some for as many as a month when combined with already scheduled spring break holidays. Most of the districts said they would continue offering meals to children while classes are out of session, mostly through drive-up services around the lunch hour.

Officials with the Sacramento County Office of Education announced Friday afternoon that the districts will close for at least three weeks, taking some of the districts through their planned spring break.

That means more than 250,000 students in kindergarten through high school will be out of school in Sacramento County. More than 80,000 students combined in Placer and Yolo counties will also be out of school. Other districts in the region said they would discuss through the weekend whether to shut down.

“Over the next few days we’ll be meeting with leaders of all our school districts to work to make sure our kids are safe, well taken care of and continue to get their education,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg wrote on Twitter. “We also need to make sure our employers support affected parents.”

The Sacramento region has been hit with a moderate number of coronavirus cases, and two deaths. One death occurred in Placer County earlier this month, a Rocklin resident who was the first believed case of a person nationally contracting the virus via “community-spread.” Placer officials have reported one other case of a healthcare worker who contracted the virus and is at home, resting comfortably.

Sacramento County has had the most cases in the region, 17. Of those, one, an elderly resident of an Elk Grove assisted living center, died earlier this week.

As of Thursday afternoon, El Dorado County reported that it had not yet had a coronavirus case, and as of Thursday, Yolo County has reported two virus cases.

Sacramento County Superintendent of schools David Gordon said he has never seen closures on this scale.

“There have been emergencies along the way, but they were much more isolated,” he said. “This is really the whole community.”

The one event that came close to today’s closures, Gordon said, was the Butte County wildfire smoke that affected schools throughout California.

“With the wildfires, the districts were differentially affected,” he said. “You could see the patterns were more severe in some of the districts. But in this case, it’s nationwide, statewide, community wide, issue. It’s not just about the schools, its about protecting all of our people.”

Sacramento County schools closed

The Sacramento City Unified School District said in an email it would close all schools starting Monday through March 27. The district said it would “update our community on any potential extension of the school closure period,” prior to March 27.

Twin Rivers wrote that “after long and careful deliberation, and in collaboration with other surrounding districts, we have determined it best to temporarily close our schools to protect the health and well-being of our students and staff as we try to help slow the spread of COVID-19. All schools will be closed from Monday, March 16 through Friday April 3. Our Spring break will still be held from Monday, April 6 through Monday, April 13. Schools will resume session on Tuesday, April 14.”

Elk Grove’s school board voted Friday afternoon to close most schools through April 11 and “modified schools” through April 18.

Center Joint Unified School District is closing until April 12. The decision was made after discussions with Sacramento County’s Office of Education and with the various school district superintendents in the county, said David Grimes, the district’s director of personnel and student services

“I think you’ll see a lot of consistency across the county in the next couple of hours,” Grimes said.

Natomas Unified also announced it would close through April 5.

“As promised, we are providing an update on how we are responding to COVID-19 Coronavirus concerns,” the district wrote on its website. “At this time, in alignment with actions taken throughout Sacramento County and with the full support of the Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH), Natomas Unified is announcing a three-week school closure through Sunday, April 5th. Please know that this may change, but we will be sure to keep you updated regularly.”

Robla School District said it will close until April 20 – a three-week closure plus the regularly scheduled spring break.

“We know that this may cause childcase issues for many families, but it must be done to help stop the spread of the virus and make sure our students and staff are safe,” the district announced on its website.

Placer County schools closing

All public school districts in Placer County will be closed for three weeks starting Monday in an attempt to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

Campuses will be closed at all 16 public schools and several of its 22 dependent charter schools through at least April 3, according to a statement by the county’s office of education. Before- and after-school care programs will also be canceled.

That means more than 74,000 students from kindergarten through high school will be out of school, including the districts of Rocklin Unified, Roseville City, Roseville Joint Union High and Western Placer Unified.

“As our county navigates this difficult time, we must continue to lean on the strength of each other,” Placer County Superintendent of Schools Gayle Garbolino-Mojica said in a statement. “Please be patient and be kind to one another. The safety and wellness of our students and staff are a priority, and we thank you for your cooperation and support in helping us to maintain a healthy and safe learning environment.”

In an email sent by Rocklin Academy Family of Schools to parents Friday afternoon, officials said the move is “in order to protect the health and safety of students and our communities.”

“We understand these are difficult times and we did not make this decision lightly. We are in the midst of a public health emergency and we need everyone to do their part,” the email read.

Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District is closing until April 13.

“Decisions like this are difficult to make,” said Brad Tooker, the superintendent of the Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District said in an email to parents. “We are taking this action based on consultation from public health officials and other agencies from what is known at this time about the transmission and severity of the illness to best protect our students, staff, and community.”

Schools in Yolo County, Davis

In Yolo County, top officials with the office of education said schools in that county would close through the first week of April, though some had the option to shut campuses for longer.

John A. Bowes, the superintendent of the Davis Joint Unified School District, wrote on the district’s website that the board held an emergency meeting.

“Today, in an effort to proactively slow the spread of COVID-19, I am announcing that all Davis Joint Unified Schools will be closed beginning Monday, March 16, through Sunday, April 12, 2020,” he wrote. “Additionally, all events, extracurricular activities, athletics practices and competitions, and performances are cancelled during the closure.”

On Saturday, Washington Unified, which covers schools in West Sacramento, would close through April 30. Woodland Joint Unified said it would close through April 17 while Esparto Unified and Winters Joint Unified announced closures through at least April 3.

El Dorado school decision

All schools in El Dorado County will close for five days starting Monday in a coordinated attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, according to an announcement by officials Saturday afternoon.

The El Dorado County District Superintendent of Schools and the El Dorado County Office of Education made the decision — which affects roughly 36,000 students across 15 districts — in collaboration with the El Dorado County Public Health Officer.

“While we recognize this decision will pose challenges and hardship to many families in our county, the most effective way to slow and disrupt the transmission of this pandemic is by implementing social distancing practices,” read the statement. “During the time of the school closure, we are asking that students and families follow the County Public Health Officer’s directive to stay home and minimize social contact to the extent possible.”

The districts will reassess at the end of the week to decide whether an extension of school closures will be needed, officials said.

Private schools closed near Sacramento

All Catholic schools within the Sacramento Diocese will be closed for “a minimum of two weeks,” according to a letter by superintendent Lincoln Snyder that was sent to families Friday. School events, fundraisers and field trips are also canceled during this period.

There are more than 13,000 students who attend the Sacramento Catholic Diocese’s 36 elementary schools and six high schools.

There is no firm date for when students can return to the classroom, Snyder wrote.

“We are sensitive to the hardship that this temporary closure will cause for families and do not take our duty light,” Snyder wrote.

Jesuit High School spokesman Elizabeth Sands said parents and students were notified at 1:30 p.m. that the school was shutting down classes and shifting to “digital-learning days” next Monday through Thursday and that a planned holiday Friday will remain in effect.

Faculty and staff will still come to work next week, she said, adding that the shift stemmed from discussion with county schools officials as well as other schools in the area (Rio Americano High School sits just down American River Drive from Jesuit).

A decision will be made later on whether to extend the halt on in-class teaching, she said.

“Our leadership is continuing to meet hourly to evaluate and reassess,” she said.

Jesuit officials said the library and cafeteria will be closed, but that “all after-school activities will continue as planned (sports, clubs, arts, etc.) following the governor’s mandate of maximum capacity of 250 and social distancing.”

Sacramento Country Day, one of the region’s most prominent private schools, announced that its campus will be closed through April 14. The school said on its website that online classes will begin March 18.

Christian Brothers high School said it was closing Monday for one day to give teachers the chance to prepare for online classes for its 1,157 students, if necessary.

“At this point it’s hour by hour,” spokeswoman Eilleen Le said.

Two hours later, Christian Brothers announced the Monday training would go on as planned and that the next day school would resume with digital teaching days through March 27.

A message sent out to families Friday by school President Lorcan Barnes said Christian Brothers has been discussing the situation with county health officials “who indicate the school does not need to interrupt classroom education at this time.”

“However, due to the likelihood that an interruption may occur, we will be canceling classes on Monday, March 16, to allow our teachers to more fully move to online platforms,” Barnes wrote. “We ask that students take all books home atthe conclusion of each day to ensure they have the materials they will need to continue learning. At this time, the cancelation applies ONLY to Monday, March 16.”

Do school closures stop coronavirus?

The closures come even as new federal guidelines suggest that school closures may not make much of a difference in stopping the virus from spreading.

“There may be some impact of much longer closures (8 weeks, 20 weeks) further into community spread, but that modelling also shows that other mitigation efforts (e.g., handwashing, home isolation) have more impact on both spread of disease and health care measures,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The report noted that other countries, such as Hong Kong, which closed its school during the outbreak “have not had more success in reducing spread than those that did not.” The federal agency noted that school closures come with a host of other unintended problems that local officials should carefully consider, including lack of meals for impoverished students.

“Provision of academic support (e.g., tele-ed), alternatives for school-based meals as well as other services (e.g., behavioral and mental health services) for economically and physically vulnerable children, support for families for whom telework and paid sick leave is not available, ensuring that high risk individuals continue to be protected must all be addressed,” the agency said. “Special consideration must be given for health care workers so that school closures do not impact their ability to work.”

But other experts say there’s so little known about the coronavirus that school officials are right to be cautious.

“I would say the jury’s still out. There’s disagreement among experts. The evidence is clearly reasonably strong for (school closures limiting the spread of) flu, but this isn’t flu,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a vice dean at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former Maryland health department secretary.

“Kids get very, very sick from flu, and kids don’t seem to be getting very sick from this virus,” he said. “So to the extent to which kids are passing it on to each other is really unknown and the sense to which they’re infectious to adults is not well characterized. There are a lot of unknowns still. “

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 2:02 PM.