Schools to Close Statewide | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Schools to Close Statewide

Schools to close Monday and stay closed through March 31

Gov. Kate Brown announced late Thursday night that public K-12 schools across the state would close Monday, due to concerns around novel coronavirus. In a signal of how quickly things change, this is a reversal from yesterday's announ cement from Brown, in which she said she would keep schools open.

Schools will be closed through March 31, Brown said.

Schools to Close Statewide
FutUndBeidl, Flickr

Bend-La Pine Schools had a scheduled spring break starting the week of March 23, so this will disrupt just one additional week of school for students in the district. Today, Friday, is a regular school day.

"We are supportive of these measures to do what we can to help prevent the spread of COVID-19," wrote BLPS Superintendent Shay Mikalson in a release Thursday night. "We want to reiterate that there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Bend-La Pine Schools’ students or staff at this time." Mikalson added that the closures include school sports and activities. 

Brown said, "I want to be very clear: sending Oregon children home will not stop the spread of the coronavirus. While children are home, when at all possible, they should not be in the care of older adults or those with underlying health medical issues."

Bend-La Pine Schools will serve free “grab and go” meals for kids 18 and under at five locations throughout the district from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20 and Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31:

Ensworth Elementary School
2150 NE Dagget Lane, Bend
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Sky View Middle School

63555 18th Street, Bend
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Bend Senior High School
230 NE 6th
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Elk Meadow Elementary School
60880 Brookswood Blvd., Bend
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

La Pine High School
51633 Coach Road, La Pine
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Meals will be served on dates that were scheduled school days prior to the statewide closure order. Visitors are asked to enter through designated doors, pick up a meal from the cafeteria and then take the meal to go. Gathering inside the school will be discouraged.

Bend-La Pine Schools custodial staff will be cleaning before and after each meal.

Adults can purchase a meal for $4.

COVID-19, also called novel coronavirus, has been found to impact those over 60 and people with compromised immune systems more severely. As of Thursday, there were 24 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, including one in Deschutes County.

Visit the site of the Central Oregon Emergency Management Network, or call 211 for local information and support. Also, bookmark our Coronavirus HQ page for all the stories we're covering on the virus and its impacts locally. 

Nicole Vulcan

Nicole Vulcan has been editor of the Source since 2016. You can mostly find her raising chickens, walking dogs, riding all the bikes and attempting to turn a high desert scrap of land into a permaculture oasis.
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