As part of a decision impacting schools in San Joaquin County, all Escalon Unified School District school sites have been shut down. The three-week closure announced on Friday, March 13 comes in response to the coronavirus threat. As of now, school sites will remain closed through Sunday, April 5 with classes tentatively resuming Monday, April 6.

The closure also means there will be no sports practices or games for Escalon schools, the campuses will be closed and no outside events will be hosted at any school site.

After careful consideration and consultation with San Joaquin County Public Health Services, the San Joaquin County Superintendent of Schools and school districts in San Joaquin County made the decision to temporarily close schools.

County Superintendent of Schools James Mousalimas issued the following statement following the meeting:

“News of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and its spread across the country and the region has been a cause of great concern. In San Joaquin County, the concern continued to grow this week with the confirmation of six cases of COVID-19, which show evidence of community transmission of the virus in our county. After long and careful deliberation, it is my recommendation that all schools in San Joaquin County close temporarily for three weeks, effective Monday, March 16.”

The situation will continue to be monitored and the April 6 reopening is a tentative date.

School district officials in Escalon, meanwhile, were working on Monday to try and develop a workable plan to continue providing school breakfast/lunches to those students in need but, at press time, did not have confirmation that they would be able to make that happen. Watch the Escalon Times website and Facebook for updated information on whether the lunches will be made available to students; when and where.

As testament to how fast the situation is changing and developing, Escalon Unified School District Superintendent Ron Costa had written a letter, going home with students on Friday, that indicated a curtailment in certain large gatherings such as awards assemblies, music programs and the like at schools but said classes would continue as normal. But shortly thereafter, once the meeting at the county level was completed, the decision came down for full closure of all school sites and cancellation of all associated activities.