Indiana Coronavirus School Updates: One District Closes For The Rest Of The School Year

  March 17, 2020  -  Updated 7 hours ag

One district closes for the rest of the school year in response to coronavirus spread

A school district in southern Indiana is closing for the rest of the school year in response to the coronavirus, instead of shifting to three-day weeks of online classes.

South Dearborn school officials announced Wednesday that students would not be returning to schools after their spring break ends March 30. Instead, students will have an additional week off, followed by online learning Tuesday through Thursday for the remaining eight weeks of the school year. The district will use most of its 20 waiver days granted by the governor for the extra days off.

In a letter posted on the district’s website, Superintendent Eric Lows wrote that local health officials and school board members agreed that closing for the rest of the year “is in the best interest for the health and safety of our students, staff, and community.”

The district, located along the Kentucky border in Aurora, Indiana, appears to be the first in the state to announce it will close for the rest of the school year. Most schools across the country have announced temporary closures, but earlier this week, Kansas became the first state to close schools for the rest of the year in a more aggressive attempt to contain the coronavirus.

In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb hasn’t mandated or pressed districts to close, though most have — including all Indianapolis public schools. Many tentatively plan to return in early April.

South Dearborn, which serves about 2,200 students, also canceled extracurricular activities through at least April 6, but administrators have yet to cancel the prom. The dance is currently scheduled for April 25. Administrators said they would reassess in early April.

“We understand the importance of prom for many of our high school students, especially our seniors,” Assistant Superintendent Chris Tanner said in an additional letter to parents.  “Thus, we are committed to try and provide this experience on the originally scheduled date.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how the extended closure would affect state testing in South Dearborn schools. The ILEARN testing window is scheduled to open on April 20. The state is seeking a federal waiver from mandated standardized testing in the wake of school closures.

🔗All Indiana public schools are now closed

All public school buildings in Indiana are closed, according to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office. Schools are now either offering remote learning, on spring break or using waiver days granted by the governor.

While other states have closed all schools, Holcomb stopped short of mandating that districts close. But over the past two weeks, Indiana’s 289 traditional public districts have been slowly closing in response to the new coronavirus.

As of Monday, about 95% of charter schools were closed, and only 16 districts were not officially closed — most of which were on spring break, according to Indiana’s State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick.

In Marion County, schools are scheduled to remain closed through at least April 6, when many were scheduled to return from spring break. But the response to the crisis is changing rapidly, and, earlier this week, Kansas became the first state to cancel school for the rest of the academic year.

🔗Hammond bus aide tested positive for COVID-19, district says in letter to parents

The School City of Hammond has alerted parents that a bus monitor tested positive for COVID-19.

The northwest Indiana district with around 12,800 students is closed for at least three weeks. The bus monitor last worked on March 10, transporting small groups of students to the career center and other programs, according to a letter sent to families Tuesday. The person’s spouse is also a bus driver who was working through last week, the letter said, driving students at Charles N Scott Middle School and Maywood Elementary.

Corona Virus Press Release 3-17 Unofficial Confirmation – SCH has an unofficial confirmation (awaiting official confirmation from the State Dept. of Health) that a transportation dept employee has tested positive for the Corona Virus. #schk12 

Please click on the below to view: pic.twitter.com/7fb2gie5FN

— School City of Hammond (@SCHK12) March 17, 2020

District officials said students on the employees’ routes aren’t necessarily infected, but encouraged parents to contact their health care provider and monitor for symptoms. The bus monitor and their spouse are being quarantined for 14 days.

The district is still waiting for official confirmation of the case from the Indiana State Department of Health, the letter said.

FOOTNOTE: More than 200 of the state’s around 290 traditional public school districts have closed in response to COVID-19, according to a tweet from State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick.