Statewide school shutdown | Stafford on spring break, will have new info forthcoming

Stafford County Public School students started their spring break on Friday, March 13, 2020. While students were out, teachers had a scheduled workday on Friday. As the day wore on, we learned that Stafford students, much like students across Virginia, would not be returning to class when the scheduled spring break ends March 23. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued an order that all schools across the state be closed for at least two weeks, from Monday, March 16 to Friday, March 27. “We are taking this action to keep Virginians as safe and healthy as possible, and to minimize exposure to COVID-19,” said Governor Northam in a press release. “I recognize this will pose a hardship on many families, but closing our schools for two weeks will not only give our staff time to clean and disinfect school facilities, it will help slow the spread of this virus." Following the statement, Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner said he plans to issue a statement next week on how the governor's order will affect his school division.

The Governor has announced all public schools shall be closed through March 27. I will be sending an updated local message for SCPS next week. I will not be responding to individual tweets. Thank you for your cooperation as this is an important and quickly changing situation.

— Scott Kizner (@KiznerScott) March 13, 2020

Stafford County Public Schools has 30,120 students enrolled, according to the Virginia Department of Education.