Tuesday, March 24, 2020


LIST of American States that have closed all schools due to coronavirus

Alabama
State Superintendent Eric Mackey announced schools will close starting at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18. All public schools will be on a 2.5 week break.

Arizona
Governor Doug Ducey and State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman jointly announced the closure of all Arizona schools from Monday, March 16, 2020 through Friday, March 27, 2020.

Arkansas
Governor Asa Hutchinson announced all Arkansas schools will suspend on-site instruction.

Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis has ordered all public and private schools be closed to in-person learning from March 23 to April 17, according to KDVR.

Connecticut
Governor Ned Lamont has ordered all public schools statewide to cancel classes beginning Tuesday, March 17 through at least March 31. The date may be extended if determined necessary.

Delaware
Gov. John Carney directed all public schools close from through March 27.

Florida
Public schools statewide will be closed until April 15 due to the coronavirus, the state announced.

Georgia
Governor Brian Kemp signed an executive order to close all public elementary, secondary and post-secondary public schools in Georgia through the end of the month in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Hawaii
The Hawaii State Department of Education closed its offices except for essential functions, and schools were scheduled to close March 30 following an extended spring break. Students are expected to return to school on April 7.

Illinois
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has closed all Illinois schools in the latest effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Students will be out of schools beginning on Tuesday, March 17 and are scheduled to return on March 30th.

Indiana
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive order that extends the closure of K-12 public schools until May 1. Non-public schools are also ordered closed. This date may be revised to extend through the end of the 2019-2020 school year if circumstances warrant.

Iowa
Governor Kim Reynolds announced that she is closing schools four weeks because of the growing spread of COVID-19.

Kansas
Governor Laura Kelly announced all K-12 schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year due to the coronavirus.

Kentucky
Public school districts across Kentucky have been closed for at least two weeks amid coronavirus pandemic

Louisiana
Gov. John Bel Edwards has closed all K-12 public schools statewide effective Monday, March 16 resuming Monday, April 13, as Louisiana seeks to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Maryland
Maryland public schools will be closed from March 16-27 in coronavirus response. Gov. Hogan announce a number of actions to take immediately.

Massachusetts
Governor Charlie Baker announced that schools will be closed for three weeks as of Tuesday.

Michigan
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said all of the state’s public and private schools will closed for three weeks through April 5 to combat the spread of a rising number of coronavirus cases.

Minnesota
Minnesota schools are closed for learning but open for emergency personnel child care. Graduation services suspended.

Mississippi
Gov. Tate Reeves signed an executive order to close all public schools until April 17.

Nevada
In a press conference, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced the closure of all K-12 schools in the state through April 6.

New Hampshire
Gov. Chris Sununu ordered all schools in New Hampshire to close immediately and begin a transition to remote learning for a three-week period.

New Mexico
The New Mexico Public Education Department announced that all public schools will be closed for three weeks due to concerns of coronavirus spread.

North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Saturday that stops gatherings of 100 or more people and closes all K-12 public schools for at least two weeks.

North Dakota
Governor Doug Burgum announced schools will be closed for the next week. He says the state will make an assessment about extending that in the future.

New York
The New York State Education Department required that all New York state schools close through April 1.

Oklahoma
Officials say students who attend public schools in Oklahoma will be out of class for at least three weeks following a decision by the Oklahoma State Board of Education.

Ohio
Ohio’s governor said all schools will be on an extended spring break beginning at the end of the school day Monday and lasting until April 3. It applies to all K-12 public, private and charter schools.

Oregon
Governor Kate Brown announced a statewide school closure for students in Oregon from Monday, March 16 through Tuesday, March 31.

Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Wolf has announced the closure of all K-12 Pennsylvania schools for 10 business days starting Monday, March 16.

Rhode Island
Gov. Gina Raimondo announced all public schools in Rhode Island will be closed next week, moving up their April vacations.

South Carolina
Gov. Henry McMaster plans to close all schools, with the possibility of allowing those districts in counties with no known COVID-19 cases to conduct school Monday to prepare for distance learning.

South Dakota
Governor Kristi Noem has asked schools to close statewide. They will be closed for one week.

Tennessee
Gov. Bill Lee is urging schools to close as soon as possible with all schools expected to close by Friday, March 20. Schools should remain closed through March 31.

Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order that will close schools through April 3.

Utah
Gov. Gary Herbert announced a “soft closure” of all public and charter K-12 schools for two weeks, through March 27.

Vermont
Governor Phil Scott has ordered the closure of all schools Pre-K-12 to close by Wednesday, March 18 until April 6. Gov. Scott said this period may be extended.

Virginia
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has ordered all K-12 schools in the commonwealth to be closed for a minimum of two weeks due to the coronavirus.

Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee announced he is mandating the closure of all Washington schools from March 17, through at least April 24.

West Virginia
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice closed schools Friday for the time being. He says it is important to make sure the needs of students are taken care of, and closing the schools will also help prevent the spread of the virus.

Wisconsin
Gov. Tony Evers has ordered the statewide closure of all K-12 schools, public and private, as part of the state’s efforts to respond to and contain the spread of COVID-19.

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The UK is closing schools to all except the children of 'key workers.' Here's who they are

As the coronavirus outbreak intensifies, the United Kingdom is shutting its schools from Monday -- with some exceptions.

While most parents are trying to figure out what to do with their newly free children, the children of workers deemed critical to the country's response to Covid-19 will be allowed to go to school.

The government said people who fall into this category should contact their local authority, which will allocate a local school for their children.

"We are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings for continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of our country," the government said in a statement. "It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this disease," it added.

Here are the jobs covered by the exception:

Health and social care

This includes but is not limited to doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff, including volunteers.

The support and specialist staff required to maintain the UK's health and social care sector; those working as part of the health and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.

Education and childcare

Nursery and teaching staff, social workers and those specialist education professionals necessary for delivering the government's Covid-19 response plan.

Key public services

Those essential to the running of the justice system, religious staff, charities and workers delivering key frontline services, those responsible for the management of the deceased, and journalists and broadcasters providing public service broadcasting.

Local and national government

This only includes those administrative roles essential to the effective delivery of the Covid-19 response or delivering essential public services such as the payment of benefits.

Food and other necessary goods

People involved in food production, processing, distribution, sale and delivery, as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example, hygiene supplies and veterinary medicines).

Public safety and national security

Police and support staff, Ministry of Defence civilians, contractors and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defense and national security or to the response to the Covid-19 pandemic), fire and rescue service employees (including support staff), National Crime Agency staff, those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including overseas.

Transportation

Those keeping air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transportation running.

Utilities, communication and financial services

Staff needed to provide essential financial services, the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors, the information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies, as well as key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemical, telecommunication, postal services and delivery, payments providers and waste disposal sectors

SOURCE 






Coronavirus Australia school closures: What's happening in every state

Some Australians schools are closing early for the holidays, others are going online for a few weeks. Here’s what is happening in each state or territory.

States and territories around Australia have declared their varying stances on school closures despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday announcing “children should go to school”.

He said the health advice from the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee had not changed. “I do not want to see our children lose an entire year of their education,” Mr Morrison said.

He said “all leaders” had committed to reopening schools at the end of the school break, or Easter holidays, “subject to the advice” of the AHPPC.

“If parents choose to keep their children home from school, parents must be responsible for the conduct of the children and to ensure they adhere to the social distancing arrangements in place,” Mr Morrison said.

“Parents must be aware that while the majority of adults who contract COVID-19 have mild forms of the virus, the elderly or those with comorbidities can have more significant symptoms.”

NEW SOUTH WALES

In contrast to the prime minister's stance, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday morning urged parents to "keep their children at home".

She said 30 per cent of parents had already made the choice to keep their kids at home and the state government feels it is “the best course to follow” in regards to the state health advice.

Schools in NSW will be staying open from Tuesday for children of "parents who have no option".

“For practical reasons, in NSW we will be encouraging parents to keep their children at home,” Ms Berejiklian told reporters. “However I want to stress that for parents who have no option, for parents who are workers, that have no option, the schools will remain open. No child will be turned away from school.”

VICTORIA

Victoria has already acted, announcing it was bringing forward Easter holidays to Tuesday. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared the state’s plan prior to Sunday night’s national cabinet meeting.

On Monday morning, he said term two is scheduled to begin on April 14, “unless I have medical advice not to proceed with term two at school”.

“I'm not making that announcement today," he said.

"We have taken the decision, and the Chief Health Officer of Victoria is completely comfortable and supportive of this, to bring forward the school holidays and to spend these precious days without kids at school to plan for remote, flexible, distance learning in the evident that we need to move to that way of teaching and learning."

This means by Monday afternoon, Victorian students will be on a three-week break.

QUEENSLAND

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said schools were open on Monday and "will remain open" until the last day of term on April 3.

But parents can choose "whether or not they wish to send their children to school".

She said if this decision is made, parents have three responsibilities – to advise the school their child or children won't be attending to ensure the wellbeing of students, to continue with online learning materials available on the education department's website, and to ensure the students practise social distancing.

"The responsibility for children not going to school will be solely with the parents and carers … and we ask that they adhere to these requests," she said.

She urged parents and children to stay off school grounds if they are sick.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

ACT schools will close on Tuesday as teachers plan how to keep classes operating during the coronavirus pandemic.

But Chief Minister Andrew Barr today said they will remain open to students who "absolutely need to attend".

"What we are endeavouring to do is (see) the school population, the number of students who would physically need to go to school each day, would be considerably less so we can space them out more," he told ABC Radio.

Term two is due to commence on April 28.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australian schools are set to remain open for now with a view to helping slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Premier Steven Marshall said the message from health experts was very clear. “Send your children to school. If we do this we will slow the spread of the disease,” Mr Marshall told radio 5AA on Monday.

“But having said that, there are some parents who would like to have their children out of school.”

Mr Marshall said schools would also need to provide more flexible learning options for parents who believed they could supervise their children and look after them at home.

Term two is due to commence on April 27.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

WA Premier Mark McGowan on Monday said schools will remain open until the end of term one, finishing April 9, but they will "relax the law and provide parents with choice" whether to send their children to school.

"I have always said that closing schools is a last resort but I understand many parents are concerned and want to keep their children home at this time," he said.

"It is for that reason that we will relax the law and provide parents with choice.

"If parents decide not to send their kids to school, we will not enforce the law that requires you to do so. But I stress, if parents do decide to keep their children home, parents must abide by all other laws and that includes all new social distance, social distancing rules that have been introduced."

Many non-government schools will provide access to online and distance learning while in the public system, parents and students will have access to resources to see out the remainder of the term.

Term two is due to commence on April 28.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Territory schools will remain open for now until the school holidays, starting on Good Friday on April 10.

But Chief Minister Michael Gunner today said from Tuesday, “and for the rest of this term, the decision to send kids to school will be a choice for parents”.

“I know a lot of parents are feeling anxious right now during these times. I trust parents to know what is best for them and their kids,” he said.

“If you want to keep kids at home for the remainder of this term, that's okay. But they have to be at home.”

Term two is due to commence on April 20.

TASMANIA

In addressing the topic on Monday, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein acknowledged "there has been much community angst" regarding schools.

"Tasmanian schools will remain open for the time being," he said.

"We recognise the incredibly important role that our schools play supporting the education and wellbeing of Tasmania's children and young people and the advice of the AHPPC is unchanged on this matter."

However, he said parents and carers can keep children at home from Wednesday, March 25 if they wish.

Term two is due to commence on April 27.

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