Menlo Park City School District families can choose to have their children complete coursework from home instead of attending in-person classes in light of the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Bay Area, school officials announced on Wednesday evening (March 11).

Beginning Monday, March 16, the district's five campuses will remain open for in-person classes, but distance-learning options will be available, and are recommended, to all families who have the ability to keep children home, Superintendent Erik Burmeister wrote in an email to parents.

The "Social Distancing Plan," as the district is calling it, will remain in effect until March 26. The district plans to reevaluate the situation at the end of March after the district's spring break, which begins on March 27 and ends April 6.

There are no confirmed cases of the respiratory illness, known as COVID-19, in district schools, officials said.

Burmeister noted that Dr. Scott Morrow, health officer for the San Mateo County health department, acknowledges that the most effective actions to combat COVID-19, or at least slow its spread, in light of community transmission is "to have everything grind to a halt for an extended period of time, as (has been) done in other countries."

But the school district's goal "is to find a middle ground between shutting everything down and continuing our normal program," Burmeister said. "To preserve the health of our students, staff, and community as well as provide equity of access to our public schools, I have directed our staff to begin implementing a 'Social Distancing Plan.'"

For students who attend in-person classes, busing, and hot lunch services will remain the same. After-school programs are optional and will continue unless the schools decide to close, as many families rely on them for child care, Burmeister noted.

Although children do not appear to suffer the severity of illness from the virus, they are still able to spread it to others, including people who have more severe responses to the virus, experts such as Dr. Arthur Reingold, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Berkeley, have noted.

Before March 16, K-5 teachers will send students assignments by email and grades 6-8 teachers will post assignments on their Learning Management System to parents who choose to keep their children at home.

District preschools – the Early Learning Center and Heritage Oak Children’s Center for special needs students – will remain open for those parents who require child care during the day and have few options. District officials say they will engage in social-distancing efforts among the students at the preschools in the coming days.

Last week, two teachers and a student in the district were asked to stay home after learning they may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The district's schools underwent cleanings as a precaution.

The Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation canceled its annual fundraising auction last weekend because of the virus.

There have been a total of 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Mateo County as of Thursday afternoon.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula's response to the new coronavirus by the Almanac, Mountain View Voice and Palo Alto Online here.