UPDATE, 4:56 p.m.: It should be noted that three small school districts — Orick, Big Lagoon and Bridgeville — are still “considering” whether or not to close school, according to the Humboldt County Office of Education’s constantly updated spreadsheet as of this writing.
Orick was scheduled to be closed tomorrow in any case.
Here’s the link for that spreadsheet again.
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UPDATE, 4:50 p.m.: Hernandez reports, via his Facebook page, that this time the board has approved a motion to shutter the schools.
All Eureka City Schools sites will be closed to students with their tentative return to classes on April 20, 2020.
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UPDATE, 4:37 p.m.: Eureka City Schools Trustee G. Mario Fernandez, writes, on his public Facebook page, that the school board is meeting in emergency session right now to reconsider its earlier decision to stay open.
He writes:
Our ECS board of education is holding another emergency meeting at 4:30pm today for further discussion and action relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier today we held a meeting and it was the board’s decision to stay open following the recommendations of the County Department of Public Health.
It is likely we are going to revisit our previous decision at the 4:30pm meeting.
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UPDATE, 4:32 p.m.: Lest there be any confusion, Cutten School District — Cutten, Ridgewood — are not part of Eureka City Schools. Neither are the schools of South Bay Union School District — South Bay, Pine Hill. Those schools are definitely closed.
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UPDATE, 3:15 p.m.: The Humboldt County Office of Education has published an updating spreadsheet of school closures in Humboldt County. You can find it here.
At the moment, basically everything in the county is closed with the notable exception of Eureka City Schools, which are still listed as open.
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According to Mathew Bigham, principal of Fortuna Elementary and Toddy Thomas, the Humboldt County Office of Education is recommending that all local school districts should be taking “preventative measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”
As we saw this morning, many local districts are following these guidelines, though it’s not yet clear whether all are. One notable local holdout, as best we can tell, is Eureka City Schools — classes there are scheduled to be closed Monday for teacher training, but it’s not yet clear whether the school district has canceled classes beyond that.
Adding to the list of known closed schools posted in several posts earlier today: Klamath-Trinity is shutting down for at least two weeks, as is Ferndale Unified and the Fortuna Elementary School District.
Here’s the message from Principal Bigham:
As a precautionary measure, Toddy Thomas Middle School [and Ferndale Elementary] has been canceled for at least the next two weeks starting Monday, March 16th. HCOE is recommending that school districts use preventative measures to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. All FESD schools are complying with recommendations set forth by HCOE. More information will be sent out early this next week about the school closures. In the meantime, stay home, stay safe, and stay healthy.
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