The buildings may be empty, yet class is in session for students and teachers at Northshore School District.

Located in the Seattle suburbs, not far from the epicenter of Washington state's outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, the district was forced to close two schools for sanitizing after two employees reported being exposed to someone who had potentially contracted the disease.

In a letter to parents last week, Northshore announced it had made the decision to shutter all its facilities for up to two weeks and move instruction for its more than 23,000 students online.

They are expected to login using a district Gmail account to access assignments and receive information about teacher office hours. Parents are being encouraged to create a daily schedule and watch videos using Zoom that have been posted to the district's online learning site for support. The move from classroom to cloud-based learning is one Northshore had been preparing for long before coronavirus hit the region.

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So far, it appears to be the exception, not the rule.

"The number of districts who have capacity to do that is about 20% to 30%," said Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, adding that the estimate is optimistic at best.

As COVID-19 spreads to new areas of the country, educators are faced with a race against time to come up with contingency plans that would allow learning to continue should schools close. There's also the issue of student services, especially providing nutrition. Thirty million children receive free or reduced lunches on a daily basis at schools across the country, according government data.

Northshore says it is providing meals for pickup at 22 school sites while its online learning program is in place.