DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY/dewayne@mcnews.online
All three school districts operating within Montgomery County have announced that they will close their campuses Tuesday, March 17, through Friday, March 27, per an announcement by Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Governor Hutchinson announced Sunday, March 16, that all public schools in Arkansas will be closed to on-site instruction until the end of Spring Break. All county schools’ Spring Break is scheduled for the week of March 23-27.
There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 being reported in any of the area schools. School closures are a measure implemented to help stop the spread of the disease. It is a precautionary measure and is no need for alarm.
Caddo Hills, Mount Ida and Ouachita River (Oden) School Districts have announced that all campuses will be open Monday, March 16, to allow students an opportunity to pick up AMI learning packets.
Buses will run as usual at all three schools and school will be open through normal hours. Caddo Hills and Mount Ida have announced that attendance is optional for students and absences will not be counted against them. Students do need to make sure they have AMI packets through Day 10.
Ouachita River School District has announced that AMI will be available for pick up at school offices through 4:30 p.m. Monday. However, they have announced through Facebook posts that Oden students need to attend school Monday to receive packets.
Caddo Hills and Mount Ida have shared that updates will be made promptly through phone message systems, Facebook and their school websites.
ORSD has been posting updates on Facebook and they encourage parents to download the school app for updates.
The decision to close all public school campuses came after it was reported that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has risen from one on Thursday to 16 Sunday.
School closures will be reevaluated by the Governor’s office at the end of March with a decision expected to be made by March 30 regarding any additional days of closure.
The announcement comes after the Arkansas Activities Association announced Thursday that all Spring activities will be cancelled due to the threat of COVID-19.
National Park College announced Friday that they will shift in-person classes to online instruction Monday, March 16, through Saturday, April 5. Online classes will continue as scheduled, and the campus will remain open at this time. Technical, lab-based and health professions clinical portions of instruction that cannot be delivered online will be temporarily suspended through April 5. The College will observe spring break as scheduled, March 22 through March 28.
For more information regarding COVID-19 please visit the Center for Disease Control’s website, cdc.gov.
