Due to the recent increase of coronavirus cases in Tulare County, Visalia Unified School District has decided to close down all district sites for two weeks.
Superintendent Tamara Ravalin sent an email to the staff detailing the decision on Tuesday, the Visalia Times-Delta reported.
“As you are probably aware, there has been an extreme increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Tulare County, Ravalin wrote. “From a discussion this afternoon with our public health officer at the Tulare County Health Department, the guidance at this time is to implement a two-week shut down of VUSD sites, similar to what occurred in March, to reduce possible contact spread.
“This district shut down includes stopping all student activities, including athletic conditioning, agriculture, band and other VAPA activities, which would also include coaching staff/teachers not being on campus.”
VUSD was previously planning to allow high schools to return extracurricular activities to campus on Wednesday, but those plans will not materialize due to the closure.
Tulare County has nearly 4,000 total positive COVID-19 cases, about 500 of which have been added since the end of last week.
All school sites and district offices will remain closed for two weeks, after which district officials will reevaluate the situation.
