One Indiana school district is closed for the next four weeks after a student tested positive for the novel coronavirus and another district is on high-alert after a family that was potentially exposed to the illness attended a school-related event over the weekend.

All Avon Community Schools will close through March 20 after one student tested positive and a second student is showing symptoms of COVID-19, district officials announced at a press conference Monday afternoon.

The two-week closure will be followed by the district's already-scheduled spring break. Students will return April 6.

Avon Schools Superintendent Maggie Hoernemann said the precautionary measure is being taken as officials are working to determine how far the web of contact extends from these students.

"That web has grown very large," she said.

The district will use eLearning days, where students receive instruction online, as much as possible and will make learning packets available to families without internet access, Hoernemann said.

All practices, extracurricular activities and school events are also canceled.

"This will minimize any exposure in large groups," Hoernemann said, "and will allow plenty of time for our buildings and our buses to be thoroughly cleaned."

She said the district's custodial staff had already stepped up cleaning procedures — as had many school districts around the Indianapolis metro area — as the disease's spread across the United States was continuing.

Four cases in Indiana

It was announced late last week that a Marion County resident was Indiana's first case of the coronavirus that has become a worldwide pandemic. An adult in Hendricks County was the state's second case, and the Avon student was the third.

A fourth case was announced Monday in Noble County, in the northeast part of the state.

Avon Schools had previously announced that Hickory Elementary School would close for two weeks after a student there tested positive for the coronavirus.

State health officials did not specify which school the second student — who is symptomatic but has not tested positive — attended, nor did they establish what connection, if any, exists between the Hendricks County adult and child who have tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Kris Box, Indiana State Health Commissioner, said both confirmed Hendricks County cases are quarantined at home.

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Box applauded the actions of Avon Schools and said the decision to close all schools for the next two weeks goes above and beyond what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might recommend.

She also advised families not to treat the time off of school like an extended spring break and urged the community to practice "social distance."

"This is not a spring break, where everybody runs out and goes to the mall, goes to the movies," Box said. "We really need, if we're going to have this work, to have these individuals social distance, which means that you go home and you read books or you play games with your family... or whatever those activities are that you can do at home, rather than being out in public."

Noblesville parent directed to self-quarantine

Noblesville Schools, meanwhile, announced that a parent has been directed to self-quarantine after attending an out-of-state event where someone else tested positive for the illness but schools in that district remain open.

The parent arrived home late last week, the district said, so there was little risk for exposure during the school week but the family did attend a Noblesville High School baseball event. The district is urging anyone else who attended that to be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms of the disease, which include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

The district said that the parent is complying with the directive out of an abundance of caution and will also be keeping their children at home to avoid any potential exposure to Noblesville Schools students.

As of Sunday, they had no symptoms and not tested positive for COVID-19.

Avon parents must find alternatives

Avon's closure complicate life for families of the district's nearly 10,000 students who unexpectedly need to find childcare for the two weeks leading up to spring break. Some companies, though, are allowing or even encouraging employees to work from home.

It may also impact those families that rely on the schools for free or reduced-price meals.

To reach families who require food assistance, cold food packages including 10 breakfasts and lunches will be available to all Avon Schools families. Those packages can be picked up at Cedar Elementary School and Avon Middle School North on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon and at the administration center from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Families without internet access can request a learning packet online at www.avon-schools.org/parents or by calling the Administration Center at 317-544-6000. Hoernemann said only families requesting materials will have a packet prepared.

The Indiana Department of Education has applied for a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the school meal program, to allow for this kind of meal distribution in the even other school districts need to take similar steps.

The department has been in touch with school districts across the state and they're reviewing their own emergency preparedness plans said Jennifer McCormick, state superintendent of public instruction.

McCormick said, "The job of schools right now is the safety, security and well-being of our students."

Find more information on COVID-19 at CDC.gov/coronavirus.

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.

Contact IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at 317-444-2701 or vic.ryckaert@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.