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

(Image credit: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

published 18 March 2020

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.

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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."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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