The Edmonds School District said Thursday it will continue to ensure that students have meals and educational resources during the district-wide school closures mandated by Gov. Jay Inslee to mitigate spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Inslee announced Thursday that all public and private K-12 schools in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties will close from March 17 until at least Friday, April 24 — two weeks longer than the Edmonds district had originally planned to be closed.

According to a statement sent from Superintendent Kris McDuffy’s office to district families Thursday, the district will focus on three priorities for extended school closure — food services, child care and educational resources and support.

“These priorities align with the requests from the governor to first and foremost focus on plans for providing food and child care for our families in need of these services,” McDuffy said.

During the closures, the Edmonds School District Food and Nutrition Department will be providing free grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches for any child up to 18 years old. Food services are scheduled to begin Monday, March 16 and will be held from 11-11:30 a.m. at Lynndale Elementary, Cedar Valley Community, Mountlake Terrace Elementary, College Place Elementary and Chase Lake Elementary schools.

Per the governor’s request, the district will be prioritizing child care for first responders and health care workers. Families with children currently enrolled in a before- or after-school or child care programs are encouraged to reach out to the programs directly for their plans to provide care for the next few weeks.

For families not currently enrolled in a child care program — but who will need child care during the extended school district closure — the district is working to try Tod provide support and services. 

During the initial stage of the long-term closure, teachers will be providing education resources to students and families to continue learning. Teachers are scheduled to spend Friday, March 13, planning and preparing lessons and materials for students to work on at home. Families can expect to be contacted by their students’ teachers in the coming days about how to access educational resources.

“Again, we are working to make a variety of resources available for families to reinforce student learning,” McDuffy said. “Teams are deep in planning conversations about what our educational program could look like beyond these first few weeks. We will continue to update you with more information as it becomes available.”

For additional information or assistance, contact the district’s Family Support team at 425-431-1454 or familysupport@edmonds.wednet.edu. Or visit the district’s Family Support webpage for more details.

For additional information regarding school closures, click here.

–By Cody Sexton