The San Mateo Union District High School decided to cancel school throughout the district due to the coronavirus pandemic. The board made the unanimous vote to cancel school and all school activities beginning Monday, Mar. 15.
The meeting was held tonight, Mar. 12., and juniors Rowan Kilbridge and Melanie Gordon were present when the decision was made. Gordon believes that the district made the appropriate response at the right time.
“I think that if they closed [the schools] a week before, it may have been too soon,” Gordon said.
According to the update from Superintendent Kevin Skelly, teachers will assign students work via Canvas in an effort to prevent mandatory summer school.
When schools are shut down, the free lunch program will continue to offer breakfast and lunch for pick up at Mills and San Mateo.
Both students and staff will be prohibited from entering the school after Mar. 16, so the schools can “sanitize [the] campuses,” as written in the update.
“They didn’t really say anything about long term [actions],” Gordon said.
The decision came just hours after the Burlingame School District decided to close classes on Monday, Mar. 15 and Tuesday, Mar. 16 in preparation for a more lengthy closure.
“I think doing something before it’s absolutely necessary is too late,” Kilbridge said. “[The Burlingame School District closures] won’t do anything if [high schoolers] are bringing home [coronavirus] anyway.”
After the two week period, the SMUHSD will discuss if a third week of school cancelations is necessary. If this is decided, the SMUHSD schools could undergo a one month break, as Spring Break will immediately follow these cancellations.