Governor Roy Cooper has closed all schools starting Monday for at least two weeks. Now is time for common sense and caution, to protect the health of children, families, staff, and communities. Limit the spread of the virus.
Here is the official notification from the state.
RALEIGH (WTVD) — Governor Roy Cooper on Saturday afternoon issued an executive order to stop mass gatherings of more than 100 people and close all K-12 public schools across the state of North Carolina as new cases of coronavirus continue to pop up.
The closures will start on Monday, March 16 for at least 2 weeks.
THE LATEST NORTH CAROLINA CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
“I do not make this decision lightly,” Gov. Cooper said at a news conference. “We know that it will be difficult on many parents and students. These measures will hurt people whose incomes are affected by the prohibition of mass gatherings, particularly the people who are paid by the hour.”
Governor Cooper announced he has appointed an Education and Nutrition Working Group to develop a plan to ensure that children and families are supported while schools are closed.
“I am standing up this new working group to ensure that children have enough food to eat, families have care in safe places for their young children, and student learning continues,” Governor Cooper said.
His announcement came just an hour after Wake County Public Schools announced that it would close schools beginning on Monday, March 16 through at least Friday, March 27.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We’re going to have to push to re-open the schools in some of these states when this is over, though.
Newt Gingrich i already saying this crisis shows that schools can be replaced with (cheaper) online courses.
If they don’t support public schools and public school students in ordinary times – and they don’t- they aren’t going to start supporting our schools or kids now.
Exactly. Never let a crisis go to waste.
While I applaud the Governor for taking this step, he did it in a way that was not as good as it might have been. My own district (Chapel Hill-Carrboro) made the decision to close for the next three weeks on Thursday, after they had run the teachers and administrators through a three day process of preparation for “extended learning” to delivery lessons outside of the classroom. That gave us time to prepare ourselves and our students for what lay ahead while they were still in our classrooms. They also set the closure up so that we moved our spring break forward (and extended it) to the next two weeks, with extended learning commencing on March 30th. It was a well-reasoned decision that has set us up for a smooth transition to what is all too likely to be a much longer time out than the three weeks currently planned. Governor Cooper’s announcing this on Saturday has left most of the state’s districts (except ours, Orange County, and Durham, who all made the decision last week on their own) in a difficult position. Even if they do have plans in place, there has been no opportunity to prepare the students properly and smoothly transition to new methods of lesson delivery. I realize he probably didn’t want to do this without Federal involvement and thus delayed as long as he felt he could, but it was an unusually poor decision from a governor who is usually on top of things.
In case you were wondering, here is an updated list of states that have announced closures:
–Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey announced schools will close starting at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18. All public schools will be on a 2.5 week break.
–Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that effective Tuesday through Spring Break all Arkansas schools will suspend on-site instruction.
–Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has ordered all public schools statewide to cancel classes beginning Tuesday, March 17 through at least March 31. The date may be extended if determined necessary.
–Florida Public schools statewide will be closed until March 30.
–Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has closed all public schools beginning on Tuesday, March 17 and are scheduled to return on March 30th.
–Kentucky Public school districts across Kentucky have been closed for at least two weeks amid coronavirus pandemic
–Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has closed all public schools in Louisiana effective Monday, March 16 resuming Monday, April 13.
–Maryland Gov. Hogan announced Maryland public schools will be closed from March 16-27.
–Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that schools will be closed for three weeks as of Tuesday.
–Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said as of Monday all of the state’s public schools will be closed for three weeks through April 5.
–Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced the closure of all public schools in the state through April 6.
–New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu ordered all schools in New Hampshire to close immediately and begin a transition to remote learning for a three-week period.
–New Mexico Public Education Department announced that all public schools will be closed for three weeks.
–North Carolina On Sunday Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order that stops gatherings of 100 or more people and closes all K-12 public schools for at least two weeks.
–Ohio’s governor said all K-12 public, private and charter schools will be on extended spring break beginning at the end of the school day Monday and lasting until April 3.
–Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced a statewide school closure in Oregon from Monday, March 16 through Tuesday, March 31.
–Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has announced the closure of all K-12 schools for 10 business days starting Monday, March 16.
–Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced Friday that all public schools will be closed next week, moving up their April vacations.
–South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster plans to close all schools, with the possibility of allowing those districts in counties with no known COVID-19 cases to conduct school Monday to prepare for distance learning.
–South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has asked schools to close statewide starting next week. They will be closed for one week.
–Vermont Governor Phil Scott has ordered the closure of all Pre-K-12 schools by Wednesday, March 18 until April 6. Gov. Scott said this period may be extended.
–Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has ordered all K-12 schools in the commonwealth to be closed for a minimum of two weeks.
–Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced he is mandating the closure of all Washington schools from March 17, through at least April 24.
–West Virginia Governor Jim Justice closed schools Friday for the time being. He says it is important to make sure the needs of students are taken care of, and closing the schools will also help prevent the spread of the virus.
–Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has ordered the statewide closure of all schools, public and private.
Source: by: Nexstar Media Wire Lightly edited by Laura H. Chapman
Posted: Mar 14, 2020 / 07:37 PM EDT / Updated: Mar 15, 2020 / 06:56 PM EDT
This list will continue to be updated as additional announcements are made.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
Thank you, Laura.
Our governor announced today that all public schools in Montana will be closed starting tomorrow (Monday, March 16) until April 6.
My district is pretending like it has been planning for this, but if that is the case, it certainly didn’t notify or include its teachers. This transition could have been much smoother and much safer.
whoops. Long day. I meant Monday, March 17
Also, I think Wyoming is next