In the past few weeks COVID-19, more commonly known as coronavirus, has become increasingly more concerning throughout California, the United States, and the rest of the world. More recently, many schools in California have closed due to the pandemic. This has caused problems across the state as educators figure out how to continue to teach students, but also school closures have led to a chain reaction of grocery stores becoming more crowded and also the fear of going into public spaces has risen.

To continue educating students, many districts, including PYLUSD, are relying on methods of teaching online such as google classroom. As effective as this is for the majority of the student population, students who do not have internet access face obstacles. Another way schools continue to educate their students is through homework packets.

According to EdState, all thirty of California’s largest school districts have closed due to coronavirus. Despite schools planning to reopen at different times, California Governor, Gavin Newson, says “Don’t anticipate schools are going to open up in a week. Please don’t anticipate in a few weeks.” He added on by saying “I would plan, and assume, that it’s unlikely that many of these schools — few, if any — will open before the summer break.” It is expected that for as long as the coronavirus is still a concern for public health, schools will not be reopening.

Many students are quickly realizing that having school closures are not as wonderful as it may seem to be at first. Since they are still required to do school work from home, they are not exactly on a break. Also with many public places being shut down due to safety concerns, students may find there are not that many things for them to do. Since students are not allowed to participate in many sports and other activities they were able to do before, and the school closures, students may find it hard to socialize during the school closures. 

Aimee Zhang (10) says she thinks “it’s very possible that our school will be closed till next week. The coronavirus is spreading really fast and people can get infected by it super easily.” Overall, the majority of schools in California will remain shut down, and will likely shut down until coronavirus is no longer a concern. It is unsure for how long these school closures, but one thing that is sure, is that if coronavirus is still a public health hazard, schools can remain shut down until summer break.