School District Working on Plans in Case School Closures Extended

 

Pasadena Unified School Board President Patrick Cahalan told Pasadena Now on Wednesday that the district is preparing in case the district is forced to keep schools closed.

“Right now the district is focused on rolling out plans that can adapt to the possibility of an extended closure,” Cahalan said.

On Tuesday Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters and parents that schools probably will not reopen this school year.

“I would plan and assume that it is unlikely that many of these schools, a few if any, will reopen before the summer break,” Newsom said.

The district has not acknowledged Newsom’s remarks.

The PUSD ‘s plan is to provide distance instruction for the duration of the closure, according to Cahalan.

“There are various other impacts that will cause additional complications if the closure extends all the way to the Summer break, including testing requirements,” Cahalan said.

“There is also the possibility of major action at the state; hypothetically the state could simply shift the school year and require local districts to provide summer instruction, for example. There are hundreds of questions as to how that would work fiscally, procedurally, etc. Staff is working overtime to address contingencies in the event that we’re required to shut down for a very extended period of time.”

Schools in the PUSD have been closed since Friday. Schools are scheduled to reopen on April 3. In total 85 percent of the state’s schools are currently closed according to media reports.

There are only two confirmed cases of the virus in Pasadena.

All non-essential events have been canceled. On Wednesday, the Pasadena City Council took action to protect renters when they passed a moratorium on evictions.

Numbers in Los Angeles County continued to skyrocket on Wednesday as cases neared 200 after 46 more confirmed cases were confirmed.

On Wednesday Newsom signed emergency legislation providing up to $1 billion in funding to help California fight COVID-19.

“It’s simply remarkable. In just one day’s time, members of the California Legislature came together across party lines to unanimously pass emergency legislation authorizing over $1 billion to fight COVID-19,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “This money will provide more hospital beds and medical equipment to help hospitals deal with the coming surge and it will help protect those who are most at risk. I am grateful to the Legislature for their quick action.”

On Wednesday Kansas became the first state to close schools for the remainder of the year.

Gov. Laura Kelly announced that she has ordered school buildings K-12 to be closed citing fears about the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 and the “unprecedented emergency” it presents.

“This was not an easy decision to make,” Kelly said in a statement.