Dublin Schools To Close Until April 13: Coronavirus

DUBLIN, CA — Dublin Unified School District schools will close until Monday, April 13 due to concerns about the new coronavirus, Superintendent Dave Marken announced Friday at a special Board of Trustees meeting.

"Unprecedented times require unprecedented actions," he said.

The board unanimously approved Marken's request.

School offices will be closed during this time, except for some Individualized Education Plan meetings already scheduled this week. Parents should not expect IEPs for all 13,000 students, Marken said.

DUSD teachers will be collaborating and working to figure out how instruction can continue remotely, preferably online, he said.

"The education of our students will continue," he said. "Nothing can replace teacher and student engagement and interaction together."

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Since not all students have access to technology at home, students will have the ability to rent a Chromebook and hotspot to continue remote learning, Marken said in a memo after the meeting.

Staff will be paid during this time period.

Marken called on families to refrain from traveling.

More information from the district can be found here.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday to provide additional resources, prevent price gouging and help the state better prepare for the virus's spread.

The emergency declaration followed the first known coronavirus-related death in California — an elderly Placer County resident who was exposed to the virus on a Grand Princess cruise Feb. 11-21 from San Francisco to Mexico and back.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak here on the CDC website.