Ohio, Maryland shut down schools in dramatic escalation of U.S. response

Ohio's governor said Thursday that all of the state's public and private schools would close for three weeks or more. Soon after, Maryland's governor ordered a two-week closure. And in Washington state, the governor ordered schools closed for six weeks in three counties, home to about half the state's children. 

Kentucky's governor stopped short of a mandatory order but recommended that all public and private schools cease in-person classes. "It is a big but necessary step," said Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat.

"We are going to do what we have to do. We are in a crisis," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told reporters. "Think about it as a huge, huge crisis."

The closure will begin at the close of classes Monday and run through at least April 3, he said. "It may be a lot longer," DeWine said.

In Washington state, too, officials sought to prepare the public for an extended disruption, with the superintendent of public instruction suggesting the crisis might extend into the fall.

"During times of uncertainty and risk, we all need to make tough decisions, and this is one of them," Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said Thursday. Asked why he doesn't close all schools across the state, he said that could be coming in a day or two. "It's really important not to sugarcoat the reality we are in." He said people need to understand the virus is spreading and that closing schools will create hardships, particularly for parents who need to work and do not have child care. "This is going to be really hard on families," Inslee said.

His order affected about 600,000 students in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties in and around Seattle and in western Washington, an epicenter of the pandemic.

Ohio was the first to announce a statewide closure, a surprising move by a state that has not been seen as a particular hot spot. Alarmed by evidence that the virus is spreading, Ohio officials also moved this week to ban most large gatherings across the state.

Thursday's announcements were by far the most dramatic affecting school systems. Several individual districts have closed, but nothing close to a statewide action had been taken before now. The orders affect traditional public schools and charter and private schools.

With these sweeping announcements, at least 10,600 public and private schools had been closed or were scheduled to close, affecting at least 4.9 million students, according to a tally by EdWeek. Many of those closures have been for just a day or two for cleaning or to give teachers time to plan for possible closures, but each day this week has brought more weeks-long closures.

Children do not appear to be at particular risk from the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19, but there is significant concern they could contract the virus at school and bring it home to older relatives and neighbors. There is no treatment or vaccine yet for the illness.

Ohio has five confirmed cases of covid-19, DeWine said, far lower than many others. But the state health department surmised that more than 100,000 people in the state would test positive. That estimate is based on an assumption that 1 percent of the population is infected. 

The statewide orders were far more aggressive than what has been seen in other states, as public and private officials alike escalate their responses to the unfolding situation. Just two days ago, for instance, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced 31 new cases in the state, for a total of 173 at the time. But he ordered closures only for schools that sit inside a one-mile radius of the New Rochelle synagogue that was ground zero of the spread there. 

A large number of universities have canceled classes this spring, moving courses online. But K-12 school systems have been reluctant to close for numerous reasons. Officials worry about children who depend on schools for free or subsidized breakfast and lunch. They fear that moving classes online will be difficult if not impossible, especially for students from low-income families who may not have access to computers and Internet connections.

They also worry about the burden placed on parents, who may have to miss work to take care of children who are not in school. 

In Cleveland, the public schools have been preparing for possible closure for weeks, said Eric Gordon, chief executive of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

He said the district already had prepared educational materials to distribute to students to work on at home, and is not relying on anyone having Internet access, knowing many families do not have it. "Our materials are going to be low-tech," he said.

But he said it is unclear whether the days out of school are being considered formal school days. If so, the district would be responsible for assuring that students with disabilities and that English-language learners have proper accommodations, which would be tricky. Gordon said his assumption is that these rules would not apply, given that DeWine referred to the time off as an "extended spring break" but he was awaiting formal guidance.

Cleveland schools, with some 38,000 students, are set to distribute two meals per day to students, all of whom qualify for free meals at school, Gordon said. Students will be able to pick up bagged meals, and school buses may bring some through neighborhoods.

But he said his biggest worry is for parents who have to work and cannot be home to care for out-of-school children. That's particularly worrisome for low-wage workers, including some whose work is critical to controlling the crisis, such as janitors and home health aides.

"That's my biggest concern," he said. "That's the part I have the least control over."