Clovis schools make it official, campuses won’t reopen. Trustees had a lot to say

Clovis Unified School Board, on Wednesday night, voted to keep classrooms closed through the end of the year on June 5, becoming one of the last districts in the state to eliminate the possibility of returning to campus.

Clovis school doors shuttered in March to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Trustees were reluctant to rule out returning students to campus this school year.

“No one on this board wanted to close our schools. We prayed for a miracle that this would be over, and we could open schools before the end of the year,” Trustee Steven Fogg said in a statement to the board before the vote.

In April, trustees postponed closing school campuses to the end of the school year, saying they weren’t ready to “throw in the towel yet.”

“There was a lot of hope,” Clovis Board President Chris Casado told The Bee.

”I really wanted our kids to go back, and their teachers who wanted to go back just to say goodbye, have some sort of closure to the year. It’s a challenge for all off us. We have to learn to be resilient to move forward,” said Trustee Tiffany Stoker Madsen.

The decision was expected after Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell last week announced her recommendation to keep campuses closed.

“The thing is when this started two months ago, nobody had any idea where this was going and to make a decision when we closed school on March 13 would have been premature. I am very proud of our administrators, ‘saying let’s take this one step at a time,’” Fogg said.

Students will continue distance learning through Friday. The last two weeks of the school year will be reserved for students to do make-up work or end of year work.

“I was one of the holdouts. I wanted to do whatever we could to get back this year. It’s not going to happen this school year, but I’m thrilled (for) August 17. The plan is we will be back in school,” Trustee Ginny Hovesplan said.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 7:27 PM.