Q: How many districts have closed schools in California?
A: Nearly 87 percent of the state’s school districts (825 districts) announced they will close this week due to the virus as of 5:30 p.m. on March 16. These include all 30 of the state’s largest districts. Schools will be closed for at least 5,966,347 students in California, about 96 percent of all K-12 students in the state.
Q: What does it mean that Bay Area residents are under orders to “shelter in place”? Will school children still be able to pick up school meals?
A: On March 16, the public health directors of seven Bay Area counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz — ordered all residents to shelter in place beginning at 12:01 a.m. March 17 except for those that are conducting essential business. The order, which was issued to slow the spread of coronavirus throughout the Bay Area region, lasts for three weeks through April 7.
Schools are considered essential businesses, according to the order, and are allowed to continue distance learning and to provide meals on a pick-up and go basis. Residents may travel by foot, bike, car or public transit to pick up school meals, but must adhere to social distancing requirements by keeping at least 6 feet apart, including those standing in lines or on public transit. Some districts, such as Oakland Unified, are allowing families to pick up meals for more than one day so they don’t have to return daily, to help comply with social distancing requirements. Check the website of your school district to get the latest information, since not all schools are distributing meals.
Q: Who makes the decision to close schools?
A: Closing schools due to coronavirus concerns is a decision that local school districts and schools make on their own in consultation with their county public health departments. Unlike several other states, as of March 16, California has not issued a statewide order for all schools to close.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said on March 12 that schools do not fall under his executive order to cancel non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people until at least the end of March. He said schools are considered “essential” and local officials should consult guidance sent out March 7 before deciding whether to close. Check your district’s website to see what your school district is doing and advising.
The California Department of Education has created a web page with resources and guidance for schools and districts here.
Q: When they do decide to close — even temporarily — are districts required to provide instruction online to all K-12 students?
A: On March 13, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that waived the minimum state requirement of 175 instructional days each year for schools and districts that close due to concerns about coronavirus. To continue receiving state funding, the order requires districts to offer “high quality education opportunities” such as online learning, take-home materials or independent study “to the extent feasible.”
The state Legislature passed a bill on March 16 that guarantees the state funding promised by Newsom for schools and districts that close. Newsom’s administration expects to provide more details on March 17 about its expectations for instruction during school closures.
Districts that still want to meet the state’s minimum instructional requirements may have more flexibility in how they do that, based on new legislation promised on March 16 by Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee. Although the bill would not provide additional funding, it would allow districts to extend the school day after classes resume and count the extra instructional minutes toward the minimum instructional year. Districts would likely need to negotiate terms and compensation for this with school unions.
Q: If school is closed, can I still have playdates for my children, or have groups of children together to do homework?
A. Limiting social interactions for children is tough, but in counties ordered to “shelter in place,” they are prohibited, and many public health experts are saying playdates are not a good idea in general right now. The symptoms of coronavirus can take days to show up, and people can be contagious even if they do not yet have symptoms. Also, each additional child has other circles of contacts — their family and the people their family is in touch with. “Even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creating new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent,” writes Dr. Asaf Bitton, a primary care physician and public health expert, in an opinion published on Medium.
In lieu of in-person playdates, some families are setting up video playdates for their kids, and encouraging them to write letters or emails to other family members or friends.
If you live in a county that has not been ordered to “shelter in place,” and you do decide to have visits or playdates, experts say to keep them small, ideally with only one other family that is not seeing any other people either, and hold them outside where children can move around with more space.
Q: Have any California school children or teachers been diagnosed with the coronavirus ?
A: Yes. As of March 16, two K-12 students and one substitute teacher have been publicly identified as testing positive to the virus. The students attend an elementary school in Elk Grove Unified — which was the first large district to close all of its schools — and a private Catholic school operated by the San Francisco Archdiocese, which also closed all of its schools. The substitute teacher, who died Sunday, worked in Sacramento Unified.
Of the 335 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state as of March 14, six were reported in children ages 0-17, 210 were reported in adults between the ages of 18 and 64, 116 were reported in adults 65 or older and three were in people whose ages were not known.
Q: What are the symptoms of coronavirus and what should parents or guardians do if their child develops them?
A: The symptoms of the coronavirus are similar in children and adults and can be mild or severe. Those symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
According to the CDC, children do not seem to be at higher risk of getting the coronavirus although some children and infants have been sick with the disease. Older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like lung disease, diabetes or suppressed immune systems are at risk of contracting the virus.
The CDC recommends contacting a healthcare provider for medical advice if you think you or your children have been exposed and have any of the symptoms.
Q: Especially now that most schools are closed indefinitely, what should I tell my child about the virus?
A: “Be honest and say there is a cold virus that is showing up in different countries,” said Yvonne Maldonado, director of Infection Control at Stanford Children’s Hospital. “It makes some people very sick, but most people — especially children — seem not to get very sick with it.”
The Centers for Disease Control has a number of recommendations. These include:
- Remain calm and reassuring.
- Make yourself available to listen and to talk.
- Avoid language that might blame others and lead to stigma.
- Pay attention to what children see or hear on television, radio or online.
- Provide information that is honest and accurate.
- Teach children everyday actions to reduce the spread of germs.
The National Association of School Psychologists has also issued helpful hints for parents similar to those from the CDC. Among them: Limit television viewing or access to information on the Internet and through social media. Try to avoid watching or listening to information that might be upsetting when your children are present.
In addition, National Public Radio has created a comic to help parents talk to their children about the virus. And the independent national nonprofit The Child Mind Institute, which focuses on children’s mental health, has posted an article titled: “Talking to kids about the coronavirus: Kids worry more when they’re kept in the dark.”
EdSource Staff writers Theresa Harrington. Zaidee Stavely, Patrick Hoge, Diana Lambert, Michael Burke, John Fensterwald, Louis Freedberg, Larry Gordon, Ashley Smith contributed to this report.
