Last updated Friday, March 13 at 5:23 p.m.
All Alexandria City Public Schools will be closed as of Monday, March 16 through after Spring Break, which ends April 13, 2020.
Fairfax County Public Schools will close through April 10.
The month-long closures are in response to concerns about coronavirus.
In an informational release sent out shortly after noon on Friday, ACPS stated:
"Although the Alexandria Health Department is not recommending schools to close at this time, multiple issues are impacting the ability for our schools to function effectively and efficiently.
Therefore, all ACPS schools will be closed as of Monday, March 16, 2020. We are currently planning to close until after spring break (April 13, 2020) and will continue to monitor the situation throughout this period of time.
Our food services team is making arrangements for students to be provided meals while schools remain closed. Additional details will be sent later today.
During our closure, a daily update will be sent out via ACPS Express around 1 p.m to all families and community members who are signed up to receive these updates. Sign up for ACPS Express now. There will be a webinar at 3 p.m. every day to answer questions from families. We will send more information with specific details about this on Monday, March 16, 2020."
Read the full information release here.
Fairfax County Public Schools will be open Monday, March 16, only for students and staff to access their belongings as well as providing laptops or other digital devices for students in grades 3-8 who do not have access at home.
More information about FCPS school lunches, staff requirements and more are available here.
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Original article posted Friday, March 13, 4:42 a.m.
Around 11:30 Thursday night, Fairfax County Public Schools officials announced that schools would be closed on Friday, March 13 in addition to the already-planned closure on Monday, March 16.
This includes all extracurricular activities, after-school activities, adult education and out-of-school care (SACC).
It is not clear if Fairfax County Public Schools will reopen after Monday.
The announcement came a few hours after former FCPS Board Member Ryan McElveen posted a series of three tweets, writing: "The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board are putting our community in grave danger by continuing to claim that our population is at low-risk for coronavirus."
"They are encouraging a false sense of complacency, ignoring science and insulting our intelligence. Health experts predict the Washington metropolitan area will soon see a major uptick in coronavirus cases, which is partly why Washington, DC; Virginia; and Maryland have declared states of emergency and the entire state of Maryland has closed schools for two weeks. "
"For county leaders to hold a press conference, not tell the full truth, & not announce a school closure timeline is absurd. The reluctance of local leaders to be proactive, flatten the curve, and protect the people they serve—especially our most vulnerable—will be remembered."
Online, many parents and community members praised McElveen for pressuring school officials to close schools, though school officials did not say it was McElveen's tweets that led to the late-night decision.
Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Thursday, enabling greater access to resources to fight the spreading coronavirus COVID-19. Virginia Dept. of Health Commissioner Norm Oliver said the risk to the general public remains "low."
Alexandria Schools Remain Open
Alexandria City Public Schools are not closing at this time.
ACPS is bringing in substitute teachers Friday and Monday so that classroom teachers can take time to develop online learning plans.
On webinars with the City of Alexandria and Alexandria City Public Schools officials recently, multiple parents called for precautionary closures of schools, noting that students or teachers could be sick and contagious for several days without showing symptoms. (Symptoms include having a fever or feeling feverish, a cough and difficult breathing.)
On a Thursday, March 12 webinar, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings said the school system is working closely with the Alexandria Health Department, but since there has been no evidence of community transmission in the school system, there was no need to close. "Without any guidance to say that our schools need to close, we are remaining open with precautionary measures," Hutchings said.
Community members at several schools have been asked to self-monitor themselves for symptoms, including people at the T.C. Williams Minnie Howard campus, Charles Barrett Elementary School, Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School, Cora Kelly School and Jefferson Houston.
Many parents criticized the school system for remaining open. "They are saying it is [because] so far we don’t have 'community spread.' But once we have community spread it is too late..." one resident commented during the Thursday, March 12 city webinar.
Other parents praised school officials for keeping schools open and cautioned against making decisions based on fear.
Friday, the school system will be sending all students in grades 3 - 12 home with Chromebooks, and students in all grades will be receiving at-home learning packets in case the school health situation changes.
In a note sent to parents Thursday evening during the webinar, ACPS officials noted, "We are committed to providing food for our students who qualify for Free and Reduced Price Meals. We continue to work on the details of exactly how we can do this should we need to close schools for a period of time. We will share this information with you as soon as it has been finalized."
Northern Virginia Community College, including the Annandale campus, has moved to online learning. Loudoun County Public Schools are closing for two weeks. The state of Maryland announced on Thursday that all schools would close for two weeks, from March 13 through March 27.
Guidelines for Children
According to the Virginia Dept. of Health’s advice for K-12 educational institutions: “Once COVID-19 is detected in a community, health department recommendations addressing any change in normal operations will depend on a number of factors such as the number of cases detected, the severity of illness associated with those cases and how widespread infection is or is predicted to be based on case histories.”
Suggestions for schools include keeping space between students, providing alternative options for students who may have special health needs, temporary school dismissals and more.
Many young students who have heard about the illness have been asking difficult questions. In response, Fairfax County Public Schools has developed information for talking to children about coronavirus.
“Helping children cope with anxiety requires providing accurate prevention information and facts without causing undue alarm,” according to the guide for parents and educators. “It is very important to remember that children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events. If parents seem overly worried, children’s anxiety may rise. Parents should reassure children that health and school officials are working hard to ensure people throughout the country stay healthy. However, children also need factual, age appropriate information about the potential seriousness of disease risk and concrete instruction about how to avoid infections and spread of disease. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears, and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help reduce anxiety.”
See more information about talking to children about coronavirus here.
