Six Bay Area counties announce school sites closed through end of academic year

Leanne Francis, first grade teacher at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, conducts an online class from her living room on March 20, 2020 in San Francisco, California. With schools closed across the United States due to the COVID19 pandemic, teachers are holding some classes for students online. less Leanne Francis, first grade teacher at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, conducts an online class from her living room on March 20, 2020 in San Francisco, California. With schools closed across the United ... more Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Six Bay Area counties announce school sites closed through end of academic year 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

Six Bay Area counties officially announced Tuesday school sites will remain closed through the end of the academic year.

Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco aligned to make a joint decision based on advice from public health officials to continue with distance learning to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

This news comes after California Governor Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said last week that they were advising districts to prepare for a closure of all school facilities into summer.

"We believe it is most important that schools maximize their efforts around distance learning," Thurmond said.

"We know this is difficult. We have to rise to the challenge. Quite frankly, none of us knows when it’s safe enough for our students to return to campus,” he added.

Newsom said districts' efforts should be focused on launching distance learning and not opening schools.

In its statement to families, San Francisco Unified School District said it will begin distance instruction "through interactive teacher-led learning" on April 13. In recent weeks, the district has been working on securing Chromebooks and Wi-Fi for families without access to connectivity.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.