District looking for ways to continue education, service
Long Beach Unified School District announced that the district would be closing all school through April 20. The closure is an extra measure of protection to help prevent the spread of the new Coronavirus, or COVID-19.
“We do not have any presumptive or confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in our schools, but we are taking this step to help protect public health,” the district stated in an announcement of the closures. The closure includes the spring break holiday, that would have been April 13-17, as well as the April 10 Admission Day holiday.
“Schools are an essential service and crucial to our communities. We are facing an unprecedented health crisis in our community, and new information is surfacing rapidly. It is likely our community will be seeing many more cases of COVID-19 in the coming weeks and months and this will require a measured, sustained response,” the statement read.
The district is also updating the community through video announcements posted on their website. They are working with local, regional and state partners about ways to support students and families during this difficult time. Wednesday’s announcement by Dr. Jill Baker, Deputy Superintendent of Schools noted that the schools in the district had served more than 7,000 meals the previous day. Many school districts are continuing with services such as free or reduced meals, as well as continuing with after school programs that have been extended to full days for families that need that support. Long Beach unified is also looking for ways to offer those, as well.
“We will be setting up ways to continue the learning process, and to provide meals for our students who rely on them. We are considering what, if any, childcare options we can extend to families during this unplanned closure,” the statement read.
Baker also noted that the district is distributing chromebooks to students and working on distributing other learning tools to help minimize the loss of instruction time for students. The district is also urging families to minimize social contact, particularly with young children and elderly adults, who are more vulnerable to the virus.
“We want to continue, during this really difficult time, to think about what is great about our district and continue to hear from those of you who are trying things out in your homes that will inspire others to keep going and to keep a positive attitude,” Baker said.
The district said will be sharing more detailed information as soon as possible about how families can support student learning during school closures and said that additional information on the novel coronavirus is available at the LBUSD coronavirus web page at lbschools.net.
