Marin schools have extended the countywide school closure to May 1 to slow the spread of the new coronavirus “to the maximum extent,” county officials announced Wednesday.

Mary Jane Burke, Marin County superintendent of schools, called the move “vital to the safety and well-being of our students and community.”

“This unified decision is a reflection of the importance of our mitigation efforts and to help our families plan for the longer term,” she said in a statement.

Burke said the county’s decision was aligned with other Bay Area county health officers and county superintendents in order to “make a unified, regional decision” and slow the spread of the coronavirus “to the maximum extent.”

“The safety and wellness of students, school personnel and the community are the highest priorities of all schools and districts” in these counties, Burke said. The counties in lockstep include Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco.

In Marin, there are 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Six people are hospitalized. There have been no deaths reported. The county has administered 578 tests as of Wednesday, public health officials said.

Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County public health officer, who is recovering after testing positive for the virus, concurred with the decision to extend the schools closure.

“As we work to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, any efforts to reduce community exposure will help ease the burden on our health care system and protect those at greatest risk,” Willis said in a statement. “This unified effort should serve as a model for our state.”

The Bay Area counties first announced the shelter-in-place order on March 16 to extend through April 7. Marin school closures were announced March 13. At that time, the suspension of in-person classes was for “at least two weeks,” but it was soon extended to three weeks after the regional shelter in place order was issued.

On March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order that is open-ended, thereby superseding and likely extending the regional shelter-in-place order.

Ina Gotlieb, a Kentfield School District parent, said she didn’t “think very many Marin parents are surprised (about the extension), given the governor‘s recent comments about possibly keeping the schools closed through the end of the school year.”

“I think that we are all waking up to the reality that this is a long-term situation and that our kids will be most likely learning from home for the foreseeable future,” she said in an email Wednesday. “Everyone is trying to adapt to a new kind of normal — and families with school-age children are especially having a hard time balancing all the needs of their kids’ education and their own work priorities. Especially teachers with their own kids.”

She urged everyone in the community to support teachers trying to educate kids remotely and to have compassion for parents trying to work at home while also monitoring their children’s distance learning.

The challenge for Marin parents is to create realistic expectations for themselves about how much educational support they can offer their kids in any given day, she said.

“It’s going to be important for all of us to stay positive, but realize that the transition to distance learning can’t happen overnight,” Gotlieb said. “With all the various ‘opportunities’ for online education content being shared, it’s hard not to feel like you’re expected to provide your kids with eight hours of education a day. That’s unrealistic and very few families can do that consistently without helicoptering parents and stressed out kids.”

Marin school districts have put in place remote learning programs, with teachers leading classes from their homes. Meals for students who receive subsidized lunches will continue to be provided, county officials said.

Districts say they are working hard to make sure all students have the proper computer equipment and Wi-Fi connections in their homes, and to track any students who are not responding to emails or attending the online classes.

Ann Jaime, a teacher in the Tamalpais Union High School District, told district trustees Tuesday she was grateful for the necessary technology that enabled teachers to keep working. She said the transition to distance learning has been challenging and stressful, but she and other teachers are learning to adapt. Students, for the most part, have been patient, she added.

“A lot of people are losing their jobs with this coronavirus situation, so I’m reminding myself to stay in gratitude,” she said.