H.B. high school and Ocean View districts keeping campuses closed through end of the school year

The Ocean View School District and the Huntington Beach Union High School District will extend their campus closures through the end of the school year in June in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Both districts had recently announced an extension of their closures through May 1.

But Huntington Beach Union announced Thursday that its six comprehensive high school campuses and three alternative education schools would remain closed to in-person classes for the rest of the school year, though online instruction would continue. The district will be closed for spring break April 13-17.

A statement said teachers are transitioning to online platforms and that students would receive daily announcements and assignments.

“It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge that the end of the school year will not look like what we had imagined back in September,” Supt. Clint Harwick said in a statement. “Our high school seniors and retiring colleagues thought they had one last semester to enjoy senior events, to say goodbye and to experience some of their favorite activities one last time.

“We realize this means we will no longer hold culminating activities in our traditional format, such as prom, senior week and even graduation as we once knew. We are working on alternative ways to celebrate your accomplishments.”

On Wednesday, the Ocean View district said there had been “new developments in this very fluid situation.”

“Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced [Wednesday] an expectation that distance learning continue through the end of the school year,” Ocean View Supt. Carol Hansen said in a statement. “This is part of the statewide effort to flatten the curve and reduce the spread of COVID-19 as the number of hospital cases is expected to surge in May.”

“In consultation with board of trustees President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, we have made the determination to close OVSD school campuses through the end of the school year,” Hansen added. “To be clear, the 2019-20 school year is not over; we are just transitioning from classroom instruction to distance learning.

“We will now focus all of our efforts on delivering the most robust and effective distance learning possible for our students.”

The district launched online instruction Wednesday.

Ocean View and Huntington Beach Union join other area districts in extending campus closures recently, though some have tentative reopening dates. The Laguna Beach Unified School District extended its closures indefinitely.

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