Thursday at 6:35 p.m., the TUHSD (Tamalpais Union High School District) administration sent the following information in an email to all parents and students of the community: “all TUHSD schools will be closed starting Friday, March 13, resuming classes on Monday, March 30, as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19)”.  

As the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. and California rises, so does the worry in our community. Tuesday, the Archdiocese of San Francisco closed all Catholic schools in the Bay Area, which included 90 schools across the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin. This decision was made after one of the students tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, now being treated at Marin General Hospital. 

Beginning on Monday, students will not be allowed on TUHSD campuses. “Students need to come tomorrow [Friday] and not return after Friday,” Drake High School Principal Liz Seabury said. Students must access any materials necessary to move forward with online instruction on Friday. 

According to the TUHSD administration, the decision to close the Tam District schools was not made lightly, but was ultimately initiated in the best interest of our students and staff. While closed, the schools will be intensively sanitized to reduce the risk of spreading the virus upon returning to campus. 

During the next two weeks, students will access their assignments through their teachers’ online platform and communicate through email to ensure that students stay on top of their academics throughout this unprecedented time period.  

Administrators and doctors alike recommend that everyone wash their hands regularly, stay home if they feel under the weather, remain as socially distant as possible, and seek a medical professional as soon as symptoms appear.

“One thing that is nice about Kaiser is that we had such a strong telemedicine system, both with telephone appointments with doctors and through advice nurses,” Catherine Hurley, a pediatric doctor at Kaiser said.

Marin is fortunate to have resources, like telemedicine (accessing medical advice through email or phone), at our disposal to combat COVID-19. Closing the TUHSD schools, while it may be an inconvenience, will help to reduce the spread of the virus and the need for these resources.