BREAKING NEWS! Schools to close through April 17

From Staff Reports

Questions over when local schools will reopen were at least partially answered on Thursday when Gov. Tate Reeves ordered all public schools throughout Mississippi to suspend classes through at least April 17 due to the spread of the of coronavirus.

“This is not a decision I take lightly,” Reeves said in a Facebook video Thursday morning. “…It is perhaps the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make… I know it is difficult for Mississippi families when schools are shut down.”

Reeves himself is currently in self-imposed quarantine following a trip to Spain.

Reeves said he would be signing an executive order Thursday to make the school closure official. Reeves said he and education officials will monitor the situation and make a determination by April 17 whether to extend the school closures even further.

Reeves also said that schools will continue to receive state funds and teachers will continue to be paid during the state-imposed closure period.

“Our teachers will get paid their annual salary on time as we expect,” Reeves said.
In a message to Greene County teachers and school staff Thursday morning, Greene County Supt. of Education Charles Breland said more information on the district’s plans for food distribution to students and distance learning plans for the county’s campuses will be made available by Friday.