After careful deliberation, the Capistrano Unified School District announced it will close schools in response to COVID-19. Following a special Board of Trustee meeting on March 13, 2020, Superintendent Kirsten Vital shared the following letter with families:
Dear CUSD Families:
I am a parent in our school district and, like you, I understand how the challenges of the last few weeks have affected the lives of our students and families. You rely on us to educate and support every student every school day. Even during an unprecedented global challenge, we remain committed to our mission. We have worked this week to balance the health and safety of our community with our mission to prepare students to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Tonight our Board of Trustees approved the closure of all District schools. Spring Recess is now scheduled next week, March 16 to 20, 2020. School will be closed for students for an additional two weeks from March 23 to April 3, 2020. We will schedule a Special Board Meeting for March 25, 2020 for the Board of Trustees to evaluate further plans.
A school closure of this magnitude is not something we take lightly. We understand that many families will be negatively affected by the closure and changes in your daily routine. While there is no perfect solution, out of an abundance of caution, we reached this decision to protect the health of our young people, staff, and community.
This is an ever-evolving challenge, however, at this time we expect that the last day of school for the 2019-20 school year will remain June 4, 2020, as scheduled.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank you for your faith, support, and cooperation during this difficult time. Our Board does tremendous work in support of this community and I appreciate their leadership. I want to join our Board in thanking our teachers, staff and administrators. Without their help, our classrooms and campuses could not open, much less operate. In the last two weeks, they have faced the threat of COVID-19, new cleaning standards, new guidelines on social gatherings and events, and a lot of rain. We are incredibly grateful for their professionalism and dedication.
We will be sharing additional information with you over the next week as we work through our plan and prepare for the weeks following Spring Recess. As you may know, Governor Newsom signed an Executive Order today and we need time to understand the impacts of the Executive Orders during our school closure.
I am grateful for the trust you put in our District and look forward to April 6 when we (at this time) expect to welcome you and your children back to CUSD.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Vital
Superintendent
More information and resources are available on the district website here.