Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday the closure of all private and public K-12 schools, restrictions of state colleges and universities to online cases and prohibited large gatherings across the state Washington in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, soon after while health officials reported at least five new deaths and more than 560 positive COVID tests.
Inslee’s executive order means school campuses will close to students following the end of the school day on Monday, March 16, through Friday, April 24.
The earliest weekday activity for students to return to classes would be Monday, April 27.
“We need to get ahead of this wave and we need to do it today,” Inslee said in a press conference Friday, answering questions and detailing the executive order alongside Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal.
“We support the governor and encourage this statewide consistency,” Reykdal said. “This gives our state an opportunity to operate as a single unit.”
Sequim School District officials notified district staff and families a little before 2 p.m. Friday in a district email.
“We are in the midst of an unprecedented health and safety event. We know the community is concerned about COVID-19, and we absolutely share your concerns,” Sequim schools superintendent Rob Clark wrote.
“We know this raises all kinds of questions and implications including childcare needs for our staff and families, school meals, graduation, and much more,” he wrote.
An estimated half-million students — about 45 percent of students statewide — receive daily meals at their schools.
“We are working on plans to address a range of impacts, and we will be in constant communication as we work through these issues,” Clark wrote. “We are working on plans to address a range of impacts, and we will be in constant communication as we work through these issues. We will be planning for an alternative model with the following services:
• available childcare during school hours for families who serve in critical community roles such as healthcare and first responders
• available meals for students – details to follow
• available educational resources with supports for at-home learning
“We recognize this closure creates many different challenges, and our goal is to provide basic services to continue supporting our families and our community. We will continue to provide updated information over the next several days, and we would ask for your patience in submitting any questions or concerns.”
Reykdal said the 295 school districts across the state will be handling how to meet certain non-classroom services, including meals and childcare.
School employees will still be expected to be at work, Inslee said.
That may take on different roles such as bus drivers delivering food, Reykdal explained.
“Our work is moving forward; it just looks differently,” he said.
For the first week the state school system may struggle to get systems in place for those services, but after that “our systems would be pretty well employed in each community.”
The restrictions are statewide, a move Reykdal said he supports even if there are counties and communities without a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
“The whole state is grappling with this,” he said.
Colleges and universities will also have significant restrictions to on-campus access but will continue with classes where available through online resources.
“They will be able to continue robust online learning in many cases,” Inslee said.
Ban on gatherings extended
Four days ago, Inslee noted, Washington state had 162 positive coronavirus tests with 21 deaths and nine counties affected. As of Friday, he said, those numbers jumped to 568 positives tests and 37 deaths in 15 counties.
By executive order Inslee declared a ban on any gathering of 250 or more people across the state, including community and civic events such as fundraisers, concerts, festivals, parades and others.
“This is a very fest and fluid situation,” Inslee said. “It is unfortunate but is true that this virus will spread to other counties.”
