The Lake Oswego school board on Thursday voted to close all of its schools for the week before spring break in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Students will finish the week but will not return to class March 16. Kids will go back to school March 30.

This marks the second large-scale closure of public schools in Oregon since Gov. Kate Brown ordered the cancellation of events and gatherings of 250 or more people. Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, has so far resisted calls from parents and the teachers union to close schools.

Officials in Ashland also voted to close schools Thursday. The Reynolds district also announced closures for the same week.

The Lake Oswego district briefly shuttered Forest Hills Elementary after a staff member tested positive for the virus, the first case in Oregon. But the Hillsboro district, where a middle school tested positive, has not closed any schools.

The Lake Oswego school board made the decision about an hour after officials in the Tigard-Tualatin district announced a similar move.

Board members discussed the logistics of closing schools and wondered aloud how a week-long closure would affect low-income students who rely on school breakfast and lunches for their daily meals and the tactic’s effectiveness given it would mean children, already among the least vulnerable to COVID-19, would not necessarily be quarantined.

“Where are the kids going to be for the next five days?" asked school board member Kirsten Aird, who works in public health. “We just have to own that they’ll be out in the community. They’re going to be in the parks.”

Aird was the lone dissenting vote. The board voted 4-1 to cancel classes.

Some health experts argue that taking preventative measures, such as closing schools before a virus is confirmed among the student population, would stem its spread and help ensure hospitals and health care centers don’t get overwhelmed with a rash cases.

Three private schools — St. Mary’s Academy and Central Catholic and Jesuit high schools — have announced they will close for two to four weeks as precautionary measures, although none have disclosed staff or students have been affected by coronavirus.

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While young children and teenagers are among the least vulnerable to the virus — the majority of fatalities have been recorded in people older than 60 — public health experts have said preventing crowds from gathering is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the disease and keep hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed by serious cases.