Boulder Valley School District Schools Closing Starting March 13 to Limit Spread of Coronavirus

Dear Boulder Valley School District Families and Staff,

Thank you for your continued partnership in advancing the safety and well-being of our students, teachers, staff, and community. As you know, Boulder Valley Schools has been closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, and following direction from state and county public health agencies. 

Today, we were informed by Boulder County Public Health that a person in Boulder County has tested positive for COVID-19 and came in contact with others in the community while sick. After further conversations with public health, we have decided it is time to take extraordinary measures to protect the health and wellness of our students, staff and community.

At the recommendation of Boulder Public Health, we will be closing all schools in Boulder Valley, beginning tomorrow, March 13, 2020 through the end of Spring Break (March 29, 2020). 

This was a difficult decision and we understand the challenges this may cause for some families in our community, but we feel it is in the best interest of slowing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting our students, employees and community.

As explained in the New York Times article, Flattening the Coronavirus Curve, public health experts believe that by implementing early mitigation, including social distancing efforts like closing schools and canceling large events can significantly reduce the number of deaths in our community and the strain on our hospitals and emergency services – ensuring that resources are focused on those that need it most.  

Tomorrow, classes will not be in session but buildings will be open during normal school hours for families and staff to pick-up student medication and personal items. We are asking everyone to minimize their time in the building – to limit exposure.

After tomorrow, schools will be closed. There will be no access to the building and no activities on campus.

Boulder Valley has been preparing over the past several weeks to support student learning in a remote environment and in the coming days we will be sharing detailed information on home learning.

In close collaboration with our state and county health agencies, we will continue to monitor and evaluate the continued risk to our community before a decision is made to reopen schools. We ask for your partnership and patience as we continue to work through this evolving situation. You can also contact the Colorado Health Emergency Line for the Public (CO HELP) for the latest public health information with reliable, consistent, and accurate information. The CO HELP number is 1-877-462-2911. Interpreters are available in Spanish and many other languages. We will continue to update parents through our website: bvsd.org.

Other state and county health resources include:

• BVSD Coronavirus Website

• CDPHE: Coronavirus Disease

• CDC: Coronavirus

• Boulder County: COVID-19

• Weld County: COVID-19

Again, we regret the impact this will have on our families. We hope that the closure ends quickly so that we can be back to learning in our school environments. We will be sharing additional information regarding online learning and other updates next week. 

Again, thank you for your support and partnership in supporting our students, teachers, and staff through this difficult situation.