LATEST CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: Ohio K-12 schools to have three-week spring break

DGKN staff report

Governor Mike DeWine announced Thursday that Ohio students in grades K-12 will receive an extended three-week spring break beginning Monday because of concerns regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The governor provided an update Thursday afternoon and released information that the school closure is expected to begin at the close of school on Monday and continue until April 3 for all K-12 schools: public, private and charter.

“We have a responsibility to save lives,” according to a Tweet on Governor Mike DeWine’s official Twitter account. “We could have waited to close schools, but based on advice from health experts, this is the time to do it.”

The last day of school for students at Dalton Local Schools will be Friday, Superintendent Jim Saxer has confirmed. Monday will be a day for professional development for teachers. The goal during the extended spring break is to do distance learning to continue to provide instruction to students through a different means than being in school, Saxer said.

According to Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, “I know it is hard to understand COVID-19 since we can’t see it, but we know that 1 percent of our population is carrying this virus today — that’s over 100,000 people.”

The governor noted on social media that the risk of death from the virus for a child “is not very high, but kids are potential carriers.”