Cameron School District announces school closure through May 1

On the heels of multiple COVID-19 diagnosis throughout Clinton and Caldwell counties, the Cameron School District announced closures will continue through May 1.

Originally forecasting closures past Easter, the Cameron School District announced it will wait until at least May 1 before returning to students to campus with multiple COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, diagnosis cropping up in Cameron.

“After thoughtful consideration, the Cameron School District will remain closed through May 1st, 2020. Principals in each building will be sending out a letter detailing how school will operate during this time,” Cameron Supt. Matt Robinson announced via the Cameron School District website.

The announcement came two weeks after the district announced an immediate closure due to concerns with Coronavirus. At the time, Robinson considered an Easter return as beating the odds.

“Four weeks is probably the minimum. With eight weeks, it only gives us a week of school left. I’m not sure what we can get out of one week of school if we were to come back. We still don’t know, if we stay out of school for a while, what happens with that M.A.P. testing,” said Robinson in early March. “What happens to end of course testing? What happens to the kid who needs that end of course testing or he might not graduate? There are certain requirements kids have to have and that might not get done … If we are going to do this, and try to beat the odds, then it will probably be until after Easter.”

During the district’s original announcement, Robinson said staff will periodically come on campus to create lesson packets. He hopes to incorporate online learning tools into the instruction plan in order to fill gaps created by lack of face-to-face contact with students. 

“Instead of dipping our toe in technology, we jumped in the lake with weights on,” Robinson said. “We’re going to find out how well this works ... Parents understand this. They know this is unprecedented. We’ve never in our history done anything like this. They know we’re not going to get everything right the first week or two or week eight. It’s going to be a work in progress.”