California public schools were recommended to remain closed for the remainder of the school year after the State Superintendent released an official statement Tuesday.

In a letter sent to state superintendents, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond recommended state schools to remain closed for the rest of the Spring semester.

The Santa Clarita school districts included in this recommendation include:

• Acton/Agua Dulce Unified School District
• Castaic Union School District
• Newhall School District
• Saugus Union School District
• Sulphur Springs School District
• William S. Hart Union High School District

All of the aforementioned districts had previously announced that they intend to remain closed until May 5, excluding the Acton/Agua Dulce Unified School District.

Distance learning has been implemented across Santa Clarita and the state of California, and the school boards for each of the districts above would still need to implement the extension officially.

Additionally, iLEAD schools have been distance learning since March 16, and the schools are prepared to continue to do so, according to Dawn Evenson, CEO of iLEAD California.

See Related: Santa Clarita School Districts Extend Campus Closures Into May Due To Coronavirus

“Due to the current safety concerns and needs for ongoing social distancing, it currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year,” Thurmond wrote.

The State Superintendent suggests schools and districts should plan to carry out distance learning.

“In order to allow schools to plan accordingly, and to ensure that learning still occurs until the end of the school year, we are suggesting that schools plan and prepare to have their curriculum carried out through a distance learning model,” he said.

School is not over for the year, Thurmond added. This recommendation is for putting efforts into strengthening the delivery of education through distance learning.

Thurmond also added that guidance regarding high school juniors and seniors grading and graduation would be coming in the next week.

“We are in unprecedented times, and it’s hard to tell what the future holds as we are all doing our best to flatten the curve,” the State Superintendent wrote. “From what we know right now, our schools will be closed longer than we originally thought, and it will be best if our schools are prepared for that extension, by having their distance learning models prepared to go until the end of the school year.”

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