STEVENS POINT - Hours before Gov. Tony Evers shuttered schools statewide, Stevens Point schools announced it canceled in-person classes amid growing concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus.

The cancellations began Friday with after-school activities and public events at school buildings through mid-April and in-person classes through April 6. The district initially announced the canceling of in-person classes through March 29, but a directive from Evers late Friday closed public and private schools through the state from March 18 to April 6, subject to change depending on the spread of the virus. The order tacks on another week of closed schools for the district.

Students who need school-provided meals, regardless of where they attend school, will still have access to those services through the schools and the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County.

The school closures mean the district will see its first prolonged use of an e-learning program that the Stevens Point Area Public School District implemented at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. For many, it will be the first time they've used the software.

The cancellation in Stevens Point schedule:

From 4 p.m. March 13 to April 12 — all athletic and co-curricular activities, competitions, performances and weekend events. The district's cancellation also applies to all community use of school buildings.

No school from March 16-20 because of spring break

In-school classes are canceled from March 23-April 6. The district will educate students through e-learning.

Free student meals begin March 23

The district's canceling of school activities and use of public facilities applies to spring break, and the district will review events at its facilities after April 12. The cancellation through April also means all out-of-district student travel is canceled. The district's main office and support services will both be closed to the public.

During the closure, the district will complete an outside air purge of each building, clean all of its high touch point surfaces and use electrostatic sprayers to disinfect those touch point surfaces. Gerlach said the district will pay extra attention to fitness equipment. The district will also clean the inside of its buses during the closure.

Stevens Point schools were the first in the Portage County area to make such cancellations. On Wednesday, Gerlach notified parents that a family inside the district self-quarantined as a preventive measure but that the family was cleared that same day to return to school.

The order from the governor also affects Pacelli Catholic Schools and the Tomorrow River, Rosholt and Almond-Bancroft school districts. Rosholt and Almond-Bancroft posted updates on their websites about their own school closure plans before Evers ordered all schools to close.

Gregg Hansel, director of education at Pacelli Catholic Schools, said in an email the private school system has been working with other local public schools and will follow the same procedures. Daycare at Pacelli remained open as of Friday afternoon, he said.

Stevens Point schools to use new online learning program for older students

Stevens Point students in grades 7-12 will use online learning in the weeks after spring break.

The district suggests students in grades 4K to 6 do the following during that time:

Read one hour per day

Eat one, device free, meal together per day as a family.

Incorporate one hour of play per day, which includes outside activities, board games or physical exercise.

Pacelli parents of students in kindergarten through 12th grade will have detailed learning activities, including e-learning, Hansel said.

"We do not want to overwhelm families or elementary staff with additional tools or activities to implement during this time," Gerlach said in a letter to parents. "It is our hope and desire that families take this seriously and begin to incorporate these strategies that we feel will have a positive impact on children."

The e-learning students in grades 7 and up is new to the district this year and was created as a way for the district to continue to educate students on days when weather force schools to close, said Brian Casey, the district's technology director.

The program is meant for short-term online education but to replace in-class instruction, Casey said. However, he thinks the district will fare well during school closing as the district has support staff to assist with any issues that may come up.

"We feel confident our teachers can do it," Casey said. "I’m glad we have this (program), and we’ll keep working on making it better and making it accessible to students."

The short-term nature of the program, however, means district staff will be evaluating as they go how to scale the program into a more long-term one, he said.

The district provides students without access to internet at home with a mobile hotspot device called Kajeet. Otherwise, students will need to find public Wi-Fi, Casey said.

"We’re working at ways to get better at this too," he said.

For additional information on using e-learning, visit the district's website at: www.pointschools.net/Page/7149

All students will get free meals

Stevens Point schools plan to offer free meals to all children age 18 and under during the week of March 23 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Children cannot consume the meals onsite and can pickup breakfast and lunch at the same time.

Locations for free meals include:

Stevens Point Area Senior High

Madison Elementary School

McKinley Center Elementary

Jefferson Elementary School

Ben Franklin Junior High School

P.J. Jacobs Junior High School

Kennedy Elementary School

Parents wonder what's next

Hours after Stevens Point made its announcement, Melissa Kane, a mother of four, sat in her red minivan waiting to pick up two of her children from Ben Franklin Junior High School, thinking about the challenge ahead in the next two weeks or more. All four of her children will have to use the district’s e-learning program for the first time, at the same time, for at least 10 days.

She said she'd have to keep her kids — grades 8, 9 10 and 12 — focused in a home environment, where there are more distractions and no class bells to structure the day.

Kane, a 48-year-old Plover resident, said she's fortunately able be at home because she’s on disability, and she and her kids can block out the day to make sure they get their online modules done.

Overall, she thinks she can handle the next couple weeks.

Unlike Kane, Amanda Stevenson is a mother of four boys — a third-grader, second-grader, kindergartner and a 4-year-old — who won’t have to complete e-learning modules because they are younger.

She said one of her one son’s teacher gave her some online learning programs that should help her get her boys through the closure, but she's concerned they'll go so long without instruction.

Another challenge for Stevenson will be finding something to keep her sons occupied, with after-school activities canceled and many organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, canceling or scaling back services amid outbreak concerns.

Stevenson, however, said that had the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to continued to increase, she would have kept her kids home from school voluntarily.

Not everyone thought closures were the right call.

Scott Bruesewitz, 51, of Whiting, said he worries about what people are going to do about child care and what that will do to people’s ability to work and feed their families. He said Stevens Point was responding to panic that’s been fueled by news media.

“I think it’s an overreaction,” Bruesewitz said.

RELATED:Coronavirus fears have already closed one Wisconsin school district. What are others doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19?

RELATED:Coronavirus school closings: Six states, Los Angeles' LAUSD shut K-12 schools