Teachers’ Union Had Called for Closures
San Diego Unified School District is closing to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
The school district made a joint announcement Friday morning with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Both school districts will shut down Monday, March 16.
The two largest school districts in California serve more than 750,000 students combined.
Superintendent Cindy Marten of San Diego and Superintendent Austin Beutner of Los Angeles issued the following joint statement:
“California has now entered a critical new phase in the fight to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” they said. “There is evidence the virus is already present in the communities we serve, and our efforts now must be aimed at preventing its spread. We believe closing the state’s two largest school districts will make an important contribution to this effort. For that reason, we plan to close, effective Monday, March 16.
“Later today, we will be providing students, parents and staff with more information on our plans to continue providing learning opportunities for students during the closure. We have also directed staff at both districts to prepare to continue providing nutrition and other supports through family resource facilities.”
The boards of San Diego Unified and Los Angeles Unified unanimously approved the decision.
San Diego Unified plans to reopen schools on April 6, unless conditions call for an extension. Patch San Diego
This announcement came on the heels of the teacher’s union calling for this action.
San Diego Unified Teachers union calls for schools to close
BY KRISTEN TAKETA
The San Diego Unified School District teachers union Is calling for all district schools to close immediately for health and safety reasons, even though county health officials have not directed schools to do so.
“The science of COVID-19 is clear: The best way to protect the communities we serve is to limit the opportunities for this virus to spread,” San Diego Education Association President Kisha Borden said In a statement Thursday night.
“Closing schools would be an important step towards protecting our students, their families and their communities from the COVID-19 threat.”
Borden said the union decided to call for closures after consulting with the union’s board of directors and talking with district leaders about their coronavirus plans.
“We just feel UK want to wait for to get sick,” Borden said.
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