JUST IN: FCPS to Give Students Monday Off for Coronavirus Planning

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Fairfax County Public Schools will give students the day off next Monday (March 16) so that staff can make coronavirus preparations.

The student holiday will be a “staff development day” to give staff time to plan for distance learning if any of the schools close due to the virus.

FCPS tweeted the announcement shortly after 3 p.m. today (Tuesday).

“We will use this day as a staff training day and all staff will report to work,” according to the updated FCPS website.

FCPS said that all after-school extracurricular activities on Monday are still set to happen, along with adult and community education classes, recreation programs and “community use by outside groups not affiliated with FCPS.”

The middle school after-school program is canceled, FCPS said.

FCPS said in an email sent shortly after 4 p.m. that all overnight field trips in and out of Virginia have been canceled.

More from the email:

Any overnight trips scheduled on or after March 11 are canceled, and this cancellation notice is effective through April 12, 2020. Any trips scheduled to New York state are also canceled, including day trips. All other day trips will proceed as scheduled. We recognize that the decision to cancel overnight field trips may be disappointing; however, the decision is made in an abundance of caution for our students and staff.

Yesterday, FCPS announced two different scenarios for school closures due to the recent spread of coronavirus.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash