Oakland, San Jose schools joins chorus of campuses canceling in-person classes

Oakland Unified School District and all schools in Santa Clara County on Friday decided to close its schools because of coronavirus fears, joining districts across the country and in California, which are also shuttering its doors to students in the hopes of preventing the disease from infecting more people gathering in crowded spaces. 

Classes in Oakland will dark through at least April 5, the end of spring break, the district said in a news release. Santa Clara County superintendent of schools Mary Ann Dewan said at a Friday news conference that all schools within the county would also be closed on Monday and will open "as soon as possible," likely on April 3.  San Jose Unified School District, with about 30,000 students, is the largest district in the South Bay. 

Acknowledging the closures will be hard on everyone, school and health leaders said they feel distancing people from each other is Public Health:101. 

"The goal is to slow the spread of infections," Santa Clara County Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody said. 

Oakland schools will formally close at 6 p.m. on Friday, meaning there is no Saturday school and no regular instruction on Monday, said Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell. Each school is still preparing to provide assignments to students, which will be posted on individual school websites. Most likely, the assignments will be posted on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

District offices will remain open and all district employees will work and continue to be paid, she said, adding "exact responsibilities and worksite locations may vary." During this break, Oakland schools will be deep-cleaned, she said. 

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Trammell-Johnson said she made the decision "after much deliberation" and after consulting with health officials and city leaders including Mayor Libby Schaaf. Ultimately, she decided that now is the right time to close  the district's more than 100 schools encompassing nearly 50,000 students. The closure, she said, will allow students, school staff and families "to do what they need to do to keep themselves healthy, and help prevent the spread of coronavirus." Earlier this week, California Governor Newsom urged organizers to cancel any events with 250 people or more. 

She added that the closure is an "an imperfect solution," because the experts say that unless children stay in their homes away from other people for the duration of the closure, then they still run the risk of potential exposure.

Closing the schools poses more than just an educational hardship on students and their families.

Trammell-Johnson fully acknowleged that so many in the district rely on schools to provide food and a safe place for children during the day. So, during the closure, the district's nutritional services department will be open at 12 schools throughout the city, where "Grab and Go" breakfasts and lunches will be available. 

The move also affects working parents. 

"Parents who can't afford to stay home or afford daycare will do what now?" Denese Brown-Hofstetter wrote on Facebook. "If they stay home with the kids, they can't pay rent or mortgage. If they leave the kids home alone they'll go to jail. We are being distracted from something bigger. We have the flu season every year and thousands die and the media doesn't send everyone into a frenzy."

Oakland and Santa Clara County's moves on Friday follows on the heels of what San Francisco and many other school districts, such as the West Contra Costa Unified School District, have already decided.

A growing list of campuses, from universities to K-12 schools, have all started to close in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which experts say is exacerbated when large groups of people congregate together.

Also on Friday, Los Angeles and San Diego school districts announced temporary closures starting Monday. 

“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,” two Southern California school districts said in a joint news release.

San Diego parent Daniel Rodriguez told the Associated Press that the closure will mean his 13-year-old daughter will be out for six weeks now since it will run into her spring break.

“I think it’s overreactive,” he said, adding that he was waiting for more details. “Are they going to extend the school year past July or just call it no education for these two to three weeks?”

Here are the 12 centers where students can get breakfast and lunch in Oakland: 

Northwest/West Oakland: Sankofa Elementary, West Oakland Middle School and Hoover Elementary

Central Oakland: Oakland High School and Garfield Elementary

East Oakland: Bret Harte Middle School, Life Academy/United for Success, Coliseum College Preparatory Academy, Madison Park Upper, Fremont High School, Castlemont High School and Elmhurst United Middle School

Hours: Monday: 8:00-12:00 (3 breakfasts/3 lunches per student), Thursday: 8:00-12:00 (2 breakfasts/2 lunches per student), Food is available to any child under 18.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report. Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@foxtv.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez