Update: Tri-Cities schools closing for 6 weeks to slow coronavirus. Richland starts Monday

Tri-City school districts will be closing for six weeks after an emergency declaration from the governor.

The news broke Friday afternoon that Gov. Jay Inslee decided to shutter all public and private K-12 schools across the state from March 17 to April 24.

Richland school officials decided late Friday afternoon not to reopen on Monday, either. Pasco and Kennewick school officials were also meeting late Friday to decide their next steps.

Statewide, Inslee said activities also will be limited at public and private universities, colleges, technical schools and private career schools and apprenticeships. Many colleges have said they will move classes and finals online.

It was one of four executive orders Inslee signed, saying the county-by-county approach to contain the novel coronavirus was not working.

The announcement came as Tri-City school districts were planning to hold emergency meetings Friday to discuss what would happen if they closed.

Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal announced the day before that all public and private schools in King, Snohomish and Pierce would be closed from March 17 to April 24 for 600,000 students in 43 districts.

Along with the cancellations, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction also canceled state testing as well.

The announcement came as the number of positive coronavirus cases in the state jumped to 568 and 37 deaths.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. canceled classes across the state through the end of March in response to the virus Thursday.

Children aren’t at any more risk than healthy adults, but health officials said shutting schools can slow the spread of the disease.

“Children can be very good for passing infections,” said Dr. Amy Person with the Benton-Franklin Health District.

On Friday, the Benton-Franklin Health District said there were no confirmed cases in the Tri-Cities. There have been cases reported in surrounding counties, including Umatilla, Yakima, Kittitas, Columbia and Grant counties.

Tri-City school districts said they stepped up cleaning and spot checking shortly before the first death in Washington caused by COVID-19 two weeks ago.

Friday board meetings

The Tri-Cities school boards scheduled emergency meetings Friday evening to get updates and to discuss their options.

Kennewick school board was meeting at 5:30 p.m. at 1000 W. Fourth Ave.

Pasco was gathering at 6:30 p.m. at 1215 W. Lewis St.

And Richland administrators and school directors planned to meet at 3:30 p.m. at 615 Snow Ave. No specific time was set.

In Pasco, leaders said they had been engaged in emergency response planning for 48 hours ahead of Inslee’s Thursday announcement, according to a district release.

The district said time may be added to the end of the year to make up for the lost class time.

State law normally requires a 180-day school year and for students to average 1,027 hours in the classroom.

Reykdal promised this week that his office would work with school districts that needed to waive either of the requirements.

If necessary, they would also work to make sure seniors will be able to graduate.

In Richland, district spokesman Ty Beaver said in an release that school administrators are “closely reviewing how to reduce the negative impacts of a potential closure.”

“Thank you for your patience and partnership as we work through this difficult time,” he said.

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:50 PM.