Fairfax County Schools To Be Closed March 16 For Coronavirus Prep

UPDATE: Fairfax County Public Schools are closed through April 10. Visit www.fcps.edu for updates.

FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia's largest school district, announced a student holiday on Monday, March 16 to prepare for the possibility of a school closure related to a new coronavirus outbreak.

The day will be a staff development day "to provide an opportunity for staff to prepare for the possibility of distance learning in the event of a school(s) closure," the school district tweeted. FCPS is expected to announce more details on the student holiday.

A March 9 letter to families from Superintendent Scott Brabrand identified two possible closure scenarios: dismissal of students from a single school or small group of schools, or dismissal of students in all schools.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed eight presumptive positive cases of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19. Five of the patients are in Northern Virginia: a Loudoun County resident believed to have come in contact with a person with the coronavirus while attending Christ Church Georgetown, a Fairfax City couple who went on a Nile River cruise, a Marine assigned to Marine Corps Base Quantico who was in Ethiopia for official business and is being treated on Fort Belvoir and an Arlington resident who had recently returned from international travel.

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FCPS is also monitoring student travel with a travel history questionnaire. in light of the CDC's travel advisories for China, Iran, South Korea and Italy. Students who have traveled to countries under the CDC's travel advisories (China, Iran, South Korea and Italy) will not be able to newly enroll or return to school for 14 days after returning to the U.S. FCPS has directed schools to provide instructional materials to students who have been advised to self-quarantine and be absent from school. The school district has also suspended FCPS-sponsored international field trips and short-term international visitations through June 30.

The school district has more information on its new coronavirus response at www.fcps.edu/news/coronavirus-update.

SEE ALSO:

• Virginia Coronavirus Updates: What You Need To Know
• Interactive Map: Latest U.S. Coronavirus Cases