Schools and classrooms across the state are empty this Monday morning as the coronavirus outbreak continues.
During his state of emergency declaration on Saturday, Governor Tate Reeves asked Mississippi schools to extend their Spring Breaks through at least March 20th. While the final decision must be made by each individual school district, many have followed the Governor’s recommendation.
For the full list of closures from the Mississippi Department of Education, click here.
Because the Governor declared a state emergency, state law gives the Mississippi State Board of Education the flexibility to waive the requirement that schools operate for 180 days.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association has also announced the suspension of all sanctioned contests and activities through March 29th at the earliest.
“We urge our member schools and their communities to take every possible precaution to remain safe and healthy,” said MHSAA Executive Director Don Hinton. “MHSAA leadership is working diligently to adjust to this rapidly evolving situation and will share updates as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to work through this unfortunate situation together.”
This suspension applies whether or not a school is open or closed during this timeline.
Mississippi’s eight public universities have also extended their Spring Breaks and will shift to online courses when the semester resumes.
Currently, Mississippi has 10 confirmed cases of the virus across the state. For more information, visit the Department of Health’s website.
