More states cancel in-person classes for the remainder of the school year

The chances are growing slimmer that in-person classes will resume before 2019-20 school calendar ends, as more states are canceling classes for the remainder of the academic year.

Cases of the Covid-19 virus continue to mount—figures from Johns Hopkins University show that as of Friday morning, more than 245,000 people had confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 6,000 have died.

Nearly every school in the United States has canceled classes to slow the spread of the virus; after looking at the rising numbers and determining that the health risks of resuming in-person instruction any time soon are too great, officials in many states have decided it was best to tell students and families know that schools will not reopen in the 2019-20 academic year.

Several states made announcements in recent days:

Indiana: The state’s more than 1 million K-12 students will finish the school year from home, The Indianapolis Star reports.. Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick directed all schools to remain closed through the end of current school year in response to the continuing spread of COVID-19. Schools will, though, have to continue providing instruction remotely.

Michigan:  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed and executive order that all K-12 schools will remain closed throughout the academic year, Mlive.com reports.

Georgia: Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered schools closed for the rest of the academic year as the state tries to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

California: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent a letter to district superintendents saying it “currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year,” The Sacramento Bee reports.

Nebraska: The state's Department of Education has recommended that all schools remain in alternate learning environments, with no students reporting to schools, through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, and Gov. Pete Ricketts has ordered schools to operate without students in their buildings through May 31.

Earlier, officials in Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Vermont and Virginia have issued statewide directives to cancel in-person classes for the rest of the 2019-20 academic year.