Both East Grand and West Grand school districts have announced school closures starting March 16 through April 5.
The release posted by the districts Saturday evening stated that any closure past April 5 would be evaluated in the future. The Grand County Office of Emergency Management is working with community partners to build a support system for residents.
District leadership will meet Monday to coordinate plans for delivering education and services during the closure.
“We will send out information later in the week regarding tentative plans for extended learning, nutrition, resources, and other items,” West Grand said in the announcement.
East Grand said that buildings will not be staffed at all on Monday and the building will not be accessible. East Grand plans to send out information on Monday afternoon for students and families regarding when to come to the school to pick up belongings later in the week.
For both districts, all school-related activities and events scheduled during the closure will be canceled. All non-school related events scheduled to take place in East and West Grand district buildings will be canceled. Only district personnel will be allowed in buildings during the closure. All school buildings will continue to be cleaned and sanitized.
“We are working with the Colorado Department of Education regarding our required contact time and rescheduling any testing,” the districts said. “We will share information as soon as it becomes available so everyone can plan accordingly.”
“It is important for our community to remember that these measures were enacted out of an abundance of caution and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” West Grand Superintendent Darrin Peppard added. “We did not enter into this decision lightly. In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little.”