opinion

Gov. Doug Ducey bows to the inevitable and closes Arizona's schools for the year

Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday did the unthinkable – and the only thing possible in these impossible otimes.

He ordered all Arizona schools closed through the end of this school year.

"Our number one priority will continue to be health and safety, and we will continue to work closely with public health officials to make the best decisions for kids, families, and our school communities," he and state Superintendent Kathy Hoffman said, in a joint statement.

This, just 11 days before Arizona's schools were due to be reopened.

Under normal circumstances, parents would have been COUNTING THE DAYS until school bells rang again. Lately, however, they have been, well, counting the days with dread rather than delight.

Ducey and Hoffman were right to move on this quickly as really.

President Donald Trump on Sunday extended the federal government’s social distancing guidelines through the end of April.

“The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end," Trump said at a White House news conference.

Given that there is no way to keep kids six feet apart in already-overcrowded classrooms, Ducey was right to move quickly, to give Arizona’s parents and teachers (and kids) some certainty so they can prepare.

April is only expected to get worse

Arizona now has 1,157 919 coronavirus cases – up 26% from Sunday, though the numbers are likely far higher given the lack of testing in this state. Twenty Arizonans have died, up from 17 on Sunday.

The disease is now in every one of the state’s 15 counties and April into May, we are told, is going to be bad.

Twenty-nine states have prepared, ordering their residents to stay home except when absolutely necessary to go out.

Arizona isn’t one of them for reasons I dearly wish this governor would explain, given that his "number one priority will continue to be health and safety."

At least, he has done right by shuttering the schools, which must continue to offer instruction online or in some other alternative format under an emergency state law he signed on Friday.

Arizona Educators United on Sunday issued a call for Ducey and Hoffman to close the schools for the rest of the year.

“Without immediate, large-scale, serious interventions, like closing schools for the remainder of the school year, the coronavirus outbreak is projected to overrun medical facilities by early to late May,” the group said.

Admit it: This is a lost academic year

Schools would be reopening March 30 under the original closure ordered by Ducey and Hoffman – back when we thought (hoped?) this nightmare would quickly end. On March 20, they extended the closure until April 10.

And now, for the rest of the year.

It's a tough thing for parents but especially for kids and most especially for the the Class of 2020.

This is a lost spring and we may as well admit it, embrace it and each of us – especially parents of school-age children – figure out a way to make the most of it.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com.