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Athens City Schools Suspends Instruction For Two Weeks
By: WOUB News Team
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens City Schools will be closed to students from March 16-March 30 in response to three confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ohio, according to Superintendent Tom Gibbs.
All practices, meetings, and events have been cancelled, with the exception of March 19’s Board of Education meeting.
” With our proximity to Ohio University and the many families connected to the University, it is very likely that many families traveled over the spring break and may have become exposed to COVID-19,” he wrote.
Gibbs said in an email that the school district will use three remaining calamity days, make up two days on April 10 and April 13, and recommend to the Board of Education that the remaining five days “be for teacher work days and not counted as student attendance hours.”
Gibbs said staff and administration who are employed year-round should still report to work. Those employees who work nine months a year will receive more information in the following days.
On Monday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency after confirming three cases of the virus in Cuyahoga County. There have been no more confirmed cases in Ohio as of Tuesday afternoon; DeWine recommended that universities in Ohio suspend face-to-face classes but did not give any direction to K-12 schools.
The Ohio Department of Public Health has set up a website with information about the number of cases being tracked, as well as information about protecting yourself and the latest news from state officials: click here.