Loudoun Schools Closed Through March 20 Over Coronavirus Concerns

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — The Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) system announced Thursday morning that all schools would be closed through March 20 in response to the spread of the new coronavirus, also known as the COVID-19 virus. The decision came only hours after LCPS Superintedent Eric Williams told the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors at a coronavirus briefing that the school system had no immediate plans to close schools.

Along with classes, all Loudoun County school activities are canceled through next Friday. The school system's administrative offices will open at noon Thursday, followed by regular work hours each day through March 20, the school system said.

"While Loudoun County has not experienced the extent of presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 as some other areas within our nation or globally and has not had cases that meet the definition of community transmission, we are making this decision out of an abundance of caution," Williams wrote in a message to distributed to parents and staff Thursday morning. "We plan to announce next steps by the end of next week."

As of early Wednesday evening at the county board briefing, Williams and other Loudoun officials offered no indication that they were planning to shut down schools this week. At the time, LCPS had announced a teacher workday for March 20 to give teachers time to prepare for possible future school closures.

Williams wrote Thursday morning that LCPS now plans to use the next week to reassess the situation by taking time to:

• Continue daily consultation with the Loudoun County Health Department to consider the latest information regarding presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Loudoun County as well as recommendations based on that information to determine whether to reopen schools on March 23.
• Review recommendations from other experts, such as the Virginia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Consider community mitigation strategies for school systems recently set forth by the CDC as well as any related follow-up recommendations.
• Develop specific mitigation strategies to implement when schools reopen as early as March 23.

"While we are unaware of any presumptive positive cases of individuals connected to schools, schools will be thoroughly cleaned before they reopen," Williams said.

LCPS plans to review different ways to feed students who rely on the school system's meals program. Williams also said LCPS is developing guidance for principals and teachers about potential distance learning options in case the closure goes beyond March 20.

The school system initially announced Wednesday that all teachers would have a workday on March 20 to participate in training and planning for distance-learning options. In preparation for a possible school closure, the Loudoun County School Board on Wednesday authorized the transfer of $5 million to accelerate the rollout of Chromebooks for grades 3 through 12.

Across Virginia, D.C. and Maryland, there are now 22 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including one case in Loudoun County. The disease first emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year and has now infected more than 100,000 people around the globe and killed 4,590. The World Health Organization announced Wednesday it now considers the global outbreak a "pandemic."

LCPS already has canceled all in-state and out-of-state overnight field trips. Any trips scheduled to New York state, including day trips, also have been canceled. All other day trips will proceed as scheduled.

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Participation in instructional field trips, athletic trips and other student activity trips is optional. Schools will provide a alternative for students who do not participate in an instructional field trip.

All Loudoun school-sponsored international travel has been suspended through June 30. The Loudoun International Youth Leadership Summit has been canceled, and students will instead participate in a virtual summit.

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The school system said cleaning supplies have been provided to schools. If a school or classroom experiences higher-than-normal absenteeism due to illness, the school system's facilities department will conduct additional cleaning, Williams said Wednesday said in a message to parents of students and staff members.

The school system is providing updates on its responses to the coronavirus outbreak on its COVID-19 Preparedness webpage.

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