Coronavirus 3/13: Davis schools close until April 12
- Yolo County recommends schools ‘minimize students working within arm’s length
- Community events canceled in response to new Yolo County recommendations
- Davis school district cancels events to follow new guidelines
- Robotics, speech and debate, athletics and more
- School board announces school closure, teachers adjust
BlueDevilHUB.com will be updating this story as more information becomes available. Latest update: March 13, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.
School board announces school closure, teachers adjust
By Lindsey Su, Allyson Kang, Gabe Lee and Lyah Fitzpatrick,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
Superintendent John Bowes issued a message on March 13 announcing the closure of all schools in the Davis Joint Unified School District, effective from March 16 through April 12.
Bowes, the Board of Education and senior staff held a meeting today that resulted in a unanimous vote to close the schools. “It is important to be proactive rather than reactive. It will help to save lives,” Board President Cindy Pickett said.
All extracurricular activities, athletics, performances and events are also canceled.
Student meals, breakfast and lunch, will be served at Marguerite Montgomery Elementary, Harper Junior High, Davis Senior High and Patwin Elementary from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m Monday through Friday.
Many teachers support the school board’s decision. Chemistry teacher David Van Muyden takes care of his 90-year-old mother and feels that being around a large population of people at school was a risk. “There’s a lot of other teachers in the same situation who have smaller kids at home or older people to take care of and we, as a society, must learn how to deal with this,” Van Muyden said.
Students and teachers are now finding ways to continue communication and learning through technology. This includes Google Classroom, School Loop or video lessons.
“Luckily, I teach a science class, so we have all sorts of ways to simulate labs. But I feel bad for students in AP classes preparing for AP tests because this means they will have to do a lot of that studying on their own,” physics teacher Jean-Paul Whittall said.
On the other hand, history and psychology teacher Michael Kanna is adjusting his curriculum to be more textbook-based, and not completely relying on technology to teach students. “I worry about the kids who don’t have access to a computer or the Internet,” Kanna said.
Both Kanna and Whittall said that they were expecting something like school closure to happen, but were still somewhat shocked today when they received the news.
Because of this sudden announcement, some teachers do not yet have a plan in place, but will be staying in touch with their students. English teacher David Achimore instructed students to check his website for updates and information.
“I do not have a plan. I don’t know what to do, but I hope to be able to communicate with students and do some light teaching when everything settles,” Van Muyden said.
BlueDevilHUB.com reporters for the coronavirus (COVID-19) story include Gabe Lee, Hannah Cho, Lindsey Su, Lyah Fitzpatrick, Renee Xiang and Allyson Kang.
