March 12, 2020
Dear MPCSD Parents,
It is with pride in our school district and our elected Board members that I share with you that
our School Board just voted unanimously to dismiss all students (school closure) beginning on Monday, March 16, 2020 and extending at least through the end of Spring Break, Sunday, April 5, 2020
.
This is a shift from our original plan communicated to you last night to offer in-person instruction for those families who needed to send their children to school. While we recognize this will be a significant inconvenience for many of our families, the Board agreed that the community health risk posed by remaining open to students is too great.
I applaud our elected officials for making the hard decision and leading the way in our community. I fully expect that this news will be repeated in districts throughout the county and greater Bay Area over the next 24 hours.
I will be sharing with you more information after 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, March 13, 2020 about what you can expect over the next two weeks. Please wait to reach out to your teacher with specific questions until we can give them time to prepare for this big shift. We hope to have Distance Learning directions by end of day on Monday, March 16. Thank you, in advance, for your patience and grace.
In the meantime, I wanted to get this information out to you as soon as possible so that you can begin making arrangements.
If you have the ability to keep your children home on Friday, March 13 please do so.
All absences will be excused If you choose to keep your student home, teachers will work with them on accommodating any missed assignments or assessments--there is no pressure to attend school on Friday.
Please know that we do not take this decision lightly, but in the best interests of the health and safety of our students, our staff, and the greater community.
Please remember, this extreme decision is being taken in order to ensure social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Everything we are reading indicates that the situation is likely to get much worse before it gets better. Please do everything you can to keep your students home and away from public places during this time.
With you in this,
Erik
