Elk Grove Families Concerned After Coronavirus Shuts Down School District
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Thousands of students won't hit the books in the Elk Grove Unified School District next week.
The district shut down and moved up their spring break effective immediately until March 13 after learning a family member connected to a member of the district was tested positive for COVID-19. That entire family is now in quarantine.
Superintendent Christopher Hoffman says the decision to close 67 schools for a week wasn't an easy one to make.
"It's not a comment to say it's the right thing for every district," he said. "But I do think it's the right thing for us."
Hoffman has heard from many families after breaking the news.
"I've had some say thank you very much for putting our kids first and I've had people who think I'm a blithering idiot," he said. "So it's worked out both ways."
Students are missing out on school, and also couldn't attend special events like Saturday night's prom. Ireland O'Donnell and her friends were gearing up for their picture-perfect prom night when they learned the dance wouldn't be happening. Instead, they dressed up for a nice dinner with each other.
"We're still going to have a good time," said O'Donnell. "But we're also thankful we're not going to get sick."
There are still hopes that junior prom can be rescheduled. Field trips like Alyssa Luna's visit to Disneyland isn't in the cards anymore, either. The group was supposed to leave next Friday.
"We had already paid and everything," said Luna. "Personally I've never been to Disneyland so I was really looking forward to this."
Many families had spring break vacations planned over the original dates, as well. Alyssa's brother Troy Luna decided to take action for this reason. He started a petition to keep the original spring break on top of this upcoming week off of school.
"I have it set up where the superintendent gets notifications every time we pass a milestone," he said. "Some families have had these plans for a year."
At the time this article was written, Luna had more than three thousand signatures of support from parents and students. His mother, Jennifer Ryan, also spoke up for the thousands of families left to scramble for plans during the closure.
"You can't just change life right away and say we're all just going on spring break now," said Ryan. "We all have kids, we have lives, we have jobs."
Some families have said their kids still won't be at school during the original spring break. That's something the Elk Grove Unified School District is preparing to deal with.
"We're aware that this is going to be a challenge," said Hoffman. "We will work through that."
But like many other parents in Elk Grove, Ryan thinks COVID-19 is here to stay. She's now left wondering how the district will continue to handle this outbreak from here on out.
"In a week when they go back to school – it's just going to happen again and again," she said.
Hoffman said they know it's possible things could ramp up and get worse as the area learns of any new potential coronavirus cases. This next week is meant to be a time for them to regroup and figure out how to handle what's next.