At Least 30 States Have Ordered or Recommended That Schools Don’t Reopen This Academic Year

Signs outside Sir Francis Drake High School show that the school is closed because of COVID-19 in San Anselmo, Calif., on March 31, 2020. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The majority of governors in the United States have ordered or recommended that statewide school closures continue for the rest of the academic year to help reduce the spread of the CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

Several states have announced their plans to begin lifting social distancing measures and the federal government has issued new guidelines to reopen the country in phases but it doesn’t appear that students may return to the classroom.

Twenty-five states, including Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, have issued orders that will keep students at home, according to a CNN tally of school closures.

Other states have recommended that local officials continue supporting students through distance learning models. Those states are California, Idaho, Maine, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

These orders and recommendations impact approximately 33.2 million public school students, according to Education Week

States with mandatory closures are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.

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