Most Marion County public schools will close Friday, officials said.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett has asked all schools in the county to close by Monday, he announced at a news conference Thursday.

The closure will last through schools' planned spring breaks, which are planned through April 5.

Combined, the county's 11 traditional public school districts — which will all close Friday — serve roughly 140,000 students.

The affected districts are:

Indianapolis Public Schools

Beech Grove Schools

Speedway Schools

Wayne Township Schools

Warren Township Schools

Washington Township Schools

Franklin Township Schools

Decatur Township Schools

Lawrence Township Schools

Perry Township Schools

Pike Township Schools

It will include public charter schools, as well.

Virginia Caine, director and chief medical officer of the Marion County Public Health Department, said she is recommending closure for all schools — including private and parochial schools. They have not been involved in the conversations with the health department and public districts about the closure, though, she said.

“We didn’t make this decision lightly,” she said.

Caine also urged families to keep their kids home during the break and practice social distancing.

Waiver days granted

Gov. Eric Holcomb said earlier Thursday that the state will allow school districts to waive up for 20 days from the requirement to deliver 180 instructional days in a school year.

Holcomb said the waived days do not need to be used consecutively and “can be leveraged as needed.”

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The governor also told schools to plan for broader closures, including moves to eLearning and remote classrooms.

He did not go so far as to ask schools across the state to close, though, as governors in several other states have done. A spokesperson for Holcomb's office said the decision was made with Indiana Department of Education and with input from school superintendents.

"The goal is to provide flexibility as districts may have individual needs," said Rachel Hoffmeyer, Holcomb's press secretary. "It also follows the latest CDC guidance."

The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier Thursday that it would give K-12 school districts flexibility from some federal accountability standards due to extended coronavirus-relate closures.

If a school is unable to meet certain benchmarks due to absenteeism or school closure, the department would consider a targeted one-year waiver so that effected metrics would not be factored into the school’s accountability rating, said Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in a news release Thursday.

'Truly difficult decision'

Among the districts closing is Indianapolis Public Schools, the state’s largest.

IPS is not a one-to-one district, meaning it doesn’t have a digital device for every student. While some districts that have decided to close over COVID-19 concerns are moving to eLearning days, where instruction is delivered online, IPS is not.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said most schools did send home paper "learning packets" with students Thursday. She said the district is considering how to proceed after learning of the governor's 20-day waiver.

Johnson said it was a "truly difficult decision," weighing what was best for the district's 32,000 students.

Like most school districts in the county, many IPS students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and rely on school for breakfast and lunch.

There are concerns about how kids throughout the county will eat during the closure.

Hogsett pledged full support from city-county government to schools in ensuring that meals continue to be available throughout the closure.

Johnson said IPS will have sites open Friday for families to pick up "grab and go" meals.

Meals will be distributed between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, from the following locations:

George Washington High School

Arlington Woods School 99

Brookside School 54 (parking lot off of North Dearborn Street)

Carl Wilde School 79 (parking lot off of Auburn Road)

Eleanor Skillen School 34

James Whitcomb Riley School 43

Charles Warren Fairbanks School 105

Meal service is open to all students age 18 and younger, including non-IPS students.

"Providing food services, to us, is considered an essential service," Johnson said.

Jeff Butts, superintendent of Wayne Township Schools, said his district will not have meals ready Friday but will work over the weekend to make services available next week.

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