Central Unified and other Fresno schools will close for a month to fight coronavirus
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 here.
Central Unified schools in Fresno will close Monday, the latest district to shutter to help fight the spreading coronavirus, school officials said late Friday.
Central schools will reopen April 20, Superintendent Andrew Alvarado said in a statement.
“Staff are asked not to give any new student assignments at this time,” Alvarado said.
Officials said free breakfasts and lunches would be provided to young people under 18 Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the following sites: Biola-Pershing Elementary, Polk Elementary, Saroyan Elementary, Teague Elementary, and Central High school East campus.
“The district will continue to explore its potential plans for remote learning or enrichment,” Alvarado said.
The announcement came an hour after Fresno Unified schools announced their own closures until at least April 13.
Other district closures
Sanger Unified, Visalia Unified, Hanford Joint Union High School, Washington Union and Caruthers Unified also announced closures shortly after Fresno Unified.
Kerman Unified is doing the same. Meals can be picked up between 10 a.m. and noon at Kerman High School and Kerman Floyd Elementary School, according to an announcement sent to parents.
Yosemite High School in Oakhurst was dark on Friday, after a school staffer visited a high-risk area. School officials stressed there was no known exposure and the staffer is believed to be low-risk, but said the move was out of an “abundance of caution.”
Parlier High and Brletic Elementary in Parlier also remained closed Friday in connection with a student’s recent travels to Europe. As in Oakhurst, there’s no evidence the student was exposed directly and the student is considered “an extremely low risk.”
The California Teachers Association on Friday recommended the closure of all public schools.
“To protect students and educators, we believe closing all public schools and community colleges would be one of the safest measures to help mitigate further spreading of the virus right now,” said CTA President E. Toby Boyd.
The CTA is urging state leaders to also suspend state testing for the year, and provide support for custodial staff, nurses and counselors.
Colleges
Fresno State on Thursday canceled face-to-face classes beginning next week and said classes would soon move online.
State Center Community College District schools, including Fresno City College, made a similar move. West Hills College will move online Wednesday, officials said.
Visalia’s College of the Sequoias has moved its courses online effective immediately.
Fresno Pacific University plans to move all classes online until at least April 12, they said in a statement Friday.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 4:13 PM.