Onondaga County has declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus and will close all public schools in the county starting at 4 p.m. Friday, March, 20 and lasting until at least April 13, County Executive Ryan McMahon announced Saturday.
Most school districts that are closing, including in the north country and southern tier, are closing immediately. McMahon said if there is a positive case of the coronavirus in the county before March 20, schools will close Wednesday, March 18. McMahon said the extra week in Onondaga County is to give parents and teachers time to prepare.
"I understand the anxiety. I've heard the anxiety," McMahon said. "We need to give time to deal with child care issues, we need to make sure families are working on these childcare issues and not asking grandma and grandpa, and there needs to be a plan in place to deal with our community's most vulnerable."
McMahon said any parent who wished to take their child out of school before March 20 will not face repercussions.
All non-essential activities in Onondaga County schools, including athletics and extracurricular activities, are canceled immediately.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said the city will work to continue to provide meals to kids, many of whom rely on breakfast and lunch being served by the district.
"Our schools are often the only consistent way in which our children have a meal every day and we cannot allow that to lapse for even a day as we work our way through this situation," said Walsh. We're working with the district and with the county to ensure those services are provided going forward."
McMahon said as of Saturday afternoon, there have been 26 coronavirus tests conducted in the county, and all have been negative.
Two school districts in Onondaga County, Fayetteville-Manlius and Skaneateles, have decided to close their schools as of Monday, March 16. Skaneateles interim superintendent Dr. Jeffery Bryant said"because our affiliated educational extension center is the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES located in Auburn. This means the Skaneateles Central School District will be required to follow the closing directive from that Cayuga County." In the Fayetteville-Manlius school district, superintendent Craig Tice has decided to close schools starting March 16 "out of an abundance of caution."
