California governor: Schools likely to be closed for rest of school year

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday afternoon said because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is likely schools will be closed in the state for the rest of this school year.

"I don't want to mislead you," he said to parents and educators. Nearly every single district in California is closed due to the pandemic, and they are working on getting homework packets to students and online classes up and ready.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the country's second-largest school district, and is helping feed more than 500,000 kids displaced by the shutdown. Starting Wednesday, 60 sites across the city will offer healthy "grab and go" meals for students, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Earlier in the day, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) ordered all K-12 schools in her state to close for the rest of the school year, affecting half a million students. "This situation has evolved rapidly and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future," she said. "The reality of this pandemic is that it cannot be controlled statewide if school buildings return to normal operations, or if they respond too inconsistently within our local communities."