Clark County schools not closing despite coronavirus crisis
The Clark County School District is not closing schools over coronavirus fears, the district said late Friday in phone calls to parents, promising that classes would resume as usual on Monday.
The decision to continue operating for now came despite calls to close from some employees and the union representing principals and administrators.
The district’s phone update said that the recommendation from local and state health officials is that schools do not need to close at this time.
It said another update will be provided to parents on Monday.
Superintendent Jesus Jara said in a separate letter to parents that he has not ruled out a short-term closure and “will depend on the recommendations from health experts as we consider the impact of school closures on our entire community.”
But in a letter addressed to Jara and made public on Friday, Stephen Augspurger, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators and Professional-Technical Employees, called the district’s current plan to cancel travel and after-school activities while still requiring students to attend school in overcrowded classrooms is “contradictory and confusing.”
With 40 students to a classroom, there is no way to implement health authorities’ “social distancing” guidance, the letter said.
No closures @ClarkCountySch but another update Monday. https://t.co/A5hzCGQoKv
— Aleksandra Appleton (@aleksappleton) March 14, 2020
“Crowded hallways and lunchrooms are realities in every school and without question are places where COVID-19 infections will easily occur. Crowded school buses transport thousands of students to hundreds of schools every day, further exposing students to infection,” the letter states. “Closing schools removes students and staff from these dangerous conditions.”
The letter requested that schools be closed through the end of spring break Apr. 6-10.
Across the country, dozens of school districts and even entire states have closed schools, including Los Angeles and Miami-Dade. Of the five largest school districts in the country, only New York City and Clark County schools remain open.
Some individual schools in Clark County appeared to be making their own preparations for the possibility of a switch to online learning, including encouraging teachers to familiarize themselves with Google Classroom.
An online petition to close CCSD schools has also gathered thousands of signatures. It asks CCSD to follow the example set by Nevada’s universities and colleges, several of which announced closures and a switch to online learning this week.
New CDC guidance released Friday on school closures found that short-term shutdowns have little impact on the spread of the virus, but that closures of eight weeks or more may mitigate its spread. The study also said that other mitigation efforts such as hand washing and home isolation have more impact on the spread of disease.
The Washoe County School District also said Friday that no school closures are planned. The district goes on a two-week spring break starting Monday.
Like CCSD, Washoe has suspended athletics, extra-curricular activities, assemblies and events, and has taken travel restrictions one step further with a ban on in-state travel as well.
Contact Aleksandra Appleton at 702-383-0218 or aappleton@reviewjournal.com. Follow @aleksappleton on Twitter.