UPDATE ON CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: Irvine school district closing schools; Orange shutting down for two weeks

Many Orange County baseball teams will have games postponed until further notice. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Irvine Unified School District will close all schools effective on Monday and expects a return date of April 6.

The closure is for all schools kindergarten through 12, according to a release from IUSD. The district has 36,000 students.

Here is the statement from IUSD:

“After careful deliberation, the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) has made the decision to close all IUSD schools and facilities effective Monday, March 16 with an anticipated return date of Monday, April 6. The public health crisis created by COVID-19 has put our institutions, including K-12 school districts, in uncharted territory and we must take steps to prevent the spread of illness. In addition to proactive actions taken by IUSD, we will continue to follow the guidance of public health experts to protect our students, families, staff and the entire IUSD community. As we have more information, we will communicate with our community and provide updates on iusd.org/COVID19.

“The IUSD Board of Education held a special emergency Board Meeting today at 12:30 p.m. to discuss school closures and the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation. The Board of Education authorized me to take the necessary action to protect students and staff, including the closure of all IUSD schools and facilities.

“On behalf of the IUSD Board of Education, our first priority is the safety of our students, staff, families and community,” said President of the Board of Education Betty Carroll. “We stand prepared to support our Superintendent and District staff with all available resources as they work diligently to proactively protect and support our more than 36,000 students.”

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

—Orange High athletic director Alicia Seevers said Friday that the district has made a decision to shut down schools between Monday, March 27. Then there will be a one-week spring break and students are expected to return to campus on Monday, April 6.

––The Ryan Lemmon Invitational baseball tournament, which was scheduled to have 32 teams, has been cancelled and the Woodbridge Alan Dugard Softball Classic has been postponed.

—The City of Irvine has postponed all adult softball league games until April 30.

Please send schedule changes and story ideas to timburt@ocsportszone.com and this story will be updated.