Coronavirus: CA Schools Should Stay Closed This Year, Newsom Says

CALIFORNIA — Public schools across California should remain closed through the end of the school year to help the state contain the new coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

Newsom has not issued an order to extend school closures but described his "expectation that schools will not reopen." On Tuesday, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond told education leaders to expect that students would not be allowed to return to campuses this school year.

At a news conference Wednesday, Newsom described the closures as "the right thing to do" to keep children and families safe during the COVID-19 outbreak. Minutes earlier, Newsom had shared new models for the spread of the virus across the state, projecting that the state's COVID-19 cases would exceed its current hospital capacity by mid-May if the state did not add beds.

State officials are emphasizing distance learning as an alternative to in-person classes.

"Although our campuses are closed to kids, school is not out for the year," Thurmond said, speaking by phone at Wednesday's news conference.

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To help accommodate remote classes, Newsom announced a state partnership with Google, which he said will provide more than 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to improve internet connections across the state.

More than 6.1 million students are enrolled in California's public school system. The closures have posed a hardship for families and children around the state, many of whom depend on schools for child care and daily meal services.

Schools are taking a number of measures to accommodate households affected by the closures, including expanded grab-and-go meal sites and child care centers, State Board of Education President Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond said by phone at Wednesday's news conference.

Earlier Wednesday, the UC System announced it would suspend requirements for SAT scores and letter grades for students who apply to its nine campuses, describing the eased requirements as an effort to "alleviate the tremendous disruption and anxiety" students are facing due to the COVID-19 crisis. The CSU system and community colleges have also agreed not to penalize students for pass-fail class grades, Darling-Hammond said.

Many school districts began closing their doors in early March, saying they would remain shut until early April and shift to remote learning in the meantime. Since then, however, Newsom had hinted that California's schools would not reopen at all this spring.

Full coronavirus coverage: California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures