{"id":2455718,"date":"2020-03-12T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T03:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-schools-havent-cancelled-class-yet\/"},"modified":"2020-03-12T21:52:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T03:52:00","slug":"aspen-schools-havent-canceled-class-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-schools-havent-canceled-class-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen schools haven\u2019t canceled class yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The cast of Aspen High School\u2019s Guys and Dolls perform Act 1 during the final dress rehearsal on Wednesday. Due to coronavirus risks, the live performances were canceled for the weekend, but Thursday\u2019s closed performance was live-streamed on GrassRoots TV.<\/strong>
Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The Aspen School District as of Thursday night had yet to cancel classes against the backdrop of coronavirus concerns that prompted it earlier in the day to call off what it called \u201cnonessential events and gatherings in order to support \u2018social distancing,\u2019 which helps to contain the spread of the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email to staff and faculty, interim Superintendent Tom Heald said for the time being the district was following state guidelines when it comes to closing the district\u2019s five academic buildings, which include the preschool, elementary, middle and high schools; and the K-8 Aspen Community School in Woody Creek.<\/p>\n

The state can order school closures under its criteria, and Heald\u2019s email said the district will close in the event that a district staff member or student tests positive for the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Aspen School District, we will consider a positive infection at any school a positive infection at all schools,\u201d his email said.<\/p>\n

A public health order released at 8:34 p.m. Thursday by Eagle, Garfield, and Pitkin counties prohibiting gatherings and events of more than 50 people said schools were excluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, we are not recommending closing schools, but we are watching the outbreak closely and may determine that school closures are necessary,\u201d said a collective statement from the three counties\u2019 public health departments. \u201c\u200bSchools, parents and employers should take steps now to prepare for the possibility of prolonged mandatory closures\u200b. In particular, schools should plan for how to continue to provide non-educational support for their students such as providing food, developmental disability support, and school-based healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heald met with administrators and some staff Thursday and they were intending to meet Friday morning about the district\u2019s operational status, people with knowledge of the situation said.<\/p>\n

One teacher, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a concern among faculty is that by the time someone at the schools tests positive for the virus, \u201cwe have now exposed other teachers and students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teacher-parent conferences were held as scheduled Thursday and were planned Friday; classes were not in session those days. Class is scheduled to resume Monday at the ASD, with spring break set March 23-30.<\/p>\n

School districts can decide to shut down without meeting the state\u2019s criteria for a mandatory closure. As of Thursday, 10 visitors from Australia were under containment after tests results showed they were presumptive positive for COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to monitor what\u2019s happening and inviting local governments on when to close schools and canceled mass gatherings, and other actions people should take, but I will say, each community is specific,\u201d Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a media briefing Thursday. \u201cEach community has different levels of cases right now. \u2026 We\u2019re giving basic guidance but if the locals feel they need to go further, we\u2019re absolutely supporting them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aspen district has scaled back events including Aspen High School\u2019s production of \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d at the District Theater. The weekend run was canceled. Thursday night, the musical was not open to the public but was performed by its student-actors and musicians and broadcast by GrassRoots TV. Nearly 150 people were watching the livestream, which will be posted on GrassRoots\u2019 YouTube channel<\/a> and Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The Colorado High School Activities Association also has canceled all CHSAA sanctioned events through April 6, effective immediately for the Aspen School District and Aspen High School.<\/p>\n

Heald could not be reached for comment Thursday, but his email said the district was following Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 guidelines that would trigger a state-ordered school closure, including:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Any school (includes preschools and child care centers) in Colorado with a single confirmed case of COVID-19 in a staff or student will close for a minimum of 72 hours for cleaning and social distancing.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Any schools that are closed will partner with their local public health agency to conduct contact tracing and further COVID-19 testing.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Any school with a second confirmed case of COVID-19 in a staff or student within a 30-day period requires a second minimum 72-hour closure for cleaning, testing and public health investigation.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Any school with three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in staff or students within a 30-day period requires a closure for a minimum of 14 days.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If three schools in a district have confirmed cases of COVID-19 within a 30-day period, all schools within the district are required to close for a minimum of 14 days for cleaning, testing and public health investigation.<\/p>\n

Other school districts to close include Gunnison Watershed School District Community, which said it would suspend classes Friday. That district includes the Marble Charter School on the outskirts of Pitkin County. The Gunnison district did not yet have confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of 4:40 p.m. Thursday, according to The Denver Post. Denver Public Schools announced Thursday it would close for three weeks<\/a>, and Cherry Creek and Boulder Valley school districts also are closing for extended times.<\/p>\n

Colorado Mountain College, which has a campus in Aspen, said it would extend its current spring break by one week, for students only, through March 20.<\/p>\n

CMC said it would be moving its English as a second language and GED\/HSE classes to \u201can online or Webex environment for a period of three weeks\u201d beginning March 23 and running through April 12. CMC will determine in April whether to return to in-person classes or conduct them remotely for the rest of the semester.<\/p>\n

Non-credit courses at CMC have been canceled and prorated refunds are being provided. The status of non-credit courses scheduled to begin after April 12 is undetermined.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this temporary change in our operations is in the best interest of our students, our employees and our community members,\u201d said Carrie Besnette Hauser, CMC president and CEO, in a statement.<\/p>\n

CMC buildings are open to faculty, staff and students only. From Thursday to April 12, campuses are closed to the general public, including groups with planned events on campus.<\/p>\n

More information on CMC\u2019s response to the COVID-19 virus are at coloradomtn.edu\/covid19.<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cast of Aspen High School\u2019s Guys and Dolls perform Act 1 during the final dress rehearsal on Wednesday. Due to coronavirus risks, the live performances were canceled for the weekend, but Thursday\u2019s closed performance was live-streamed on GrassRoots TV.Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times The Aspen School District as of Thursday night had yet to cancel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 10:54:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}