/ Modified mar 20, 2020 4:51 p.m.

Arizona extends school closure through April 10

The schools superintendent said leaders are also working to waive requirements for statewide tests.

School Lockers, Learning hero

Gov. Doug Ducey and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced Friday afternoon that Arizona schools will remain closed through April 10th. That is a two-week extension of their previous announcement.

In a video posted on Twitter, the two said the move is being made to protect students, teachers, and school officials.

“We want you to know that our goal is to get kids safely back in the classroom as soon as possible while providing parents and educators certainty so they can plan and make decisions,” said Ducey.

Many have raised questions about administering the AZ Merit tests which is used to judge school progress.

“With regard to statewide educational assessments, we’ve worked with our state legislators to waive requirements for this school year. We will be finalizing details with our federal partners in the coming weeks,” said Hoffman.

Ducey and Hoffman reminded parents not to leave their children in the care of elderly relatives, a group more susceptible to COVID-19. They also said school lunches are available to all school-aged children in Arizona during the closure. The exact distribution plan is up to each school district.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona