Districts around the Puget Sound cancel school amid COVID-19 concerns

SEATTLE — School districts all around our area are shutting down in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The list includes Seattle Public Schools, the largest school district in Washington state, which serves more than 53,000 students across more than 100 schools. The closure will start on Thursday, March 12 and last for at least two weeks.

Bellevue, Shoreline, North Shore, Lake Washington, and Monroe school districts will also close for at least two weeks, though some closures that run into Spring Break will last longer. Catholic schools in Western Washington will close, from March 16 to March 30.

For Seattle Public Schools, the district-wide shutdown comes after a staff member at Aki Kurose Middle School got sick and the school had to be closed. The district’s superintendent said with the repeated building cleanings that had to happen, plus the new social distancing guidelines Governor Jay Inslee announced Wednesday, they felt they had no choice but to close.

“This was a very, very difficult decision to make,” said Superintendent Denise Juneau.

Unlike many other districts, SPS will not have their students participate in online learning during the closure.

“We will not be providing online learning because we can’t assure everyone will get access to computers. It is a matter of equity for us. The state actually recommend this if you can’t guarantee access to all students,” Juneau said.

Juneau acknowledged there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

The district is still working with the state to figure out how to make sure seniors will graduate on time, and is reaching out to its partners to determine how childcare assistance can be provided to parents who still need to work.

Juneau said for families that rely on the district for meals for their students, 50-60 food pick up points will launch on Monday.

Seattle and King County Public Health is encouraging all school districts to start planning for if they recommend a closure -- which they are not yet doing for schools that don’t have cases of COVID-19 in the community.

“School districts should prepare now, if schools were requested to close in the near future for weeks to months,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin of Seattle and King County Public Health.

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