CLARK COUNTY, Ind — Several southern Indiana schools are shutting down because of COVID-19 concerns.
On Friday, Greater Clark County School Superintendent Mark Laughner announced the district will be closed for at least the next three weeks.
Laughner says students will have eLearning days March 16-20. That will be followed by a week of spring break, and March 30 through April 3 the district will use waiver days, which were just announced by Governor Eric Holcomb Thursday night.
“On April 2 we will make a decision of the status of what we will do for the week of April 6," said Laughner.
The superintendent says he’s never seen a situation quite like this.
“Nothing to this extent and nothing this intense in terms of what we’re having to do," said Laughner.
He says the move is to keep students and teachers safe. He's asking parents not to panic and is promising open communication moving forward.
“We’re making sure we have that social distance that the state department of health is asking school districts to do," said Laughner. "We want to do our part. As of right now, we have no active cases that we know of in Greater Clark, but we want to be proactive and make sure we do our part to stem the tide of this virus spreading.”
The superintendent says there will be food service available at five different locations in the county, but all events planned to happen at school buildings are canceled until April 6. That includes childcare service in the schools.
The school board does plan to meet on Monday to talk about compensation for their hourly staff. For the district's entire action plan, click here.
Several other schools in southern Indiana have taken similar actions.
Clarksville Community Schools started are doing e-learning on Friday. The district plans to be closed until March 30.
West Clark Community Schools will be closed March 16-27 for spring break. The superintendent there has sent a letter to parents about eLearning in case the district does close in the future.
New Albany Floyd County Schools announced Friday that the district will close on Monday the 16. Spring break for the district is March 17-27. Schools will then be closed to students on March 30.
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