Sonora, California – March 15, 2020 – The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools (TCSOS) in partnership with the county’s eleven school districts, serving more than 6,000 students combined, announced today that all public schools in the county will close, effective Monday, March 16, in an effort to provide time for planning for a possible long term shut down.

Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, Cathy Parker, has issued the following statement: “News of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and its spread in California and across the country has caused great concern for our parents and community members. While Tuolumne County continues to have no confirmed cases of COVID-19, we recognize the need to temporarily close schools in order to plan for long term effects of the virus. We believe closing the county’s schools will make an important contribution to this effort. For that reason, we plan to close, effective Monday, March 16.”

“In Tuolumne County, we remain in the ‘containment’ phase of our COVID-19 response. Working closely with our school districts, we see this closure as an opportunity to do those preparatory activities that would be needed when we transition into mitigation and surge phases.“ says Dr. Eric Sergienko, acting Tuolumne County Health Officer.
Schools will reopen on March 30th, unless conditions call for an extension. The students of Tuolumne County Schools were already scheduled to be out of school for the week of March 23-27 for Spring Break.

TCSOS is partnering with the county’s districts to provide learning opportunities for students during the closure. We are collaborating with all of our districts to prepare to continue providing nutrition and other supports through family resource facilities. “We will use this week to plan accordingly with our staff to ensure our students are supported in this unprecedented time.”

While your student(s) remains home, we ask you to continue practicing good hygiene, which includes:
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

We understand this is a time of uncertainty and concern. We will work through this together to keep our students, families, and staff safe.

Please talk to your school’s principal with concerns. Updates are published on our website at https://www.tcsos.us/newsroom/2019-novel-coronavirus/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tcsos.us/
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