School closures, Local districts make tough decisions amid coronavirus concerns

Many schools in Southeast Missouri announced Monday that they would close through April 3 due to concern over COVID-19.

Twin Rivers R-X, Neelyville R-IV and Poplar Bluff R-I are included in this plan. The Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff will follow suit.

R-X Superintendent Jeremy Siebert announced that students will not return from spring break as planned.

According to a statement from the district, all activities, including all games and practices, are cancelled until April 3.

Twin Rivers students were expected to return from spring break Tuesday, which meant he needed to get the message out as soon as possible.

“We are fortunate that we’ve been out since Thursday,” Siebert said.

Neelyville Superintendent Debra Parish announced that the school would be closed starting Wednesday.

She said the decision to still have Tuesday classes came from the need to send schoolwork home with the students and give parents time to find daycare or other plans if needed.

Neelyville spring break was scheduled for next week. Parish said if no new state or federal policies are released by the end of next week the administration will reassess the situation.

For R-I, this decision comes during spring break, when students weren’t scheduled to return to class until next week. That is now extended until Friday, April 3 with students expected to return the following Monday.

“We will continue to evaluate,” Dr. Scott Dill, R-I superintendent, said. “We will adjust as it presents itself.”

Dill said conversations about alternative teaching methods during this break have come up, but he’s concerned about varying access to the internet causing an uneven playing field.

The district does plan to operate a meal service option during the time for those under the age of 18 to pick up a meal. Dill said details about the program are still in discussion.

The decision was tough, Dill said, because he worries about this time off for the students. However, he said they need to do what they can to contain the spread of the virus.

“We weren’t trained for something like this,” he said.

Executive Director Chris Rushin also announced Monday afternoon that the Boys and Girls Club of Poplar Bluff will be open Tuesday, but close Wednesday until future notice. He said the club plans to follow the Poplar Bluff R-I schedule.

“I’m working very closely with Dr. Dill,” he said.

Activities and sports

The school closure will extend to all activities during that period as well, Dill said, which includes athletics.

MSHSAA, the Missouri State High School Activities Association, cancelled the remaining basketball playoffs Monday and sent an email to schools outlining the status of spring activities.

However, if a school has “determined that they are closing for a period of time” then “no practices or games should occur during that time.” Schools that are in session make the decision on if and when practices and games should take place.

Since the Poplar Bluff School District is on spring break this week, practices will continue through Saturday, Athletic Director Kent Keith said. He asked that if athletes have a high temperature or feeling ill not to attend practice. All games are cancelled through April 5, Keith said.

Area schools compete in baseball, softball, girls soccer, boys tennis, boys golf as well as track and field during the spring season at the high school level, with games scheduled to start Friday. Junior high teams compete track and field while the volleyball was halfway through its season.

MSHSAA announced that the speech, debate and theatre events at the district and state level are cancelled, as well as the music festival. MSHSAA is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Scholar Bowl with districts scheduled for April 18.

Earlier Monday, MSHSAA cancelled the Show-Me Showdown for Classes 4 and 5 after closing the state playoffs to the public on Friday. Championships were awarded in Classes 1, 2 and 3 in Springfield over the weekend while quarterfinal games in Classes 4 and 5 were completed. Poplar Bluff’s girls basketball team lost to Kirkwood 44-33 in the Class 5 quarterfinal in St. Charles.

Missouri was one of the last states to either cancel or suspended its high school basketball playoffs.

“We understand the unexpected hurdles this creates for our schools and fans, and apologize for the inconveniences it has caused,” said Dr. Kerwin Urhahn, MSHSAA executive director, in a statement. “Our thoughts are with our schools as they navigate the uncertainty of these times.”

Sports at Three Rivers College were cancelled by the NJCAA on Monday.

“In light of the progressive evolvement of the COVID-19 situation, the NJCAA has decided to end all competition for the remainder of the academic year,” said Dr. Christopher Parker, NJCAA President & CEO in a statement. “As an association, the NJCAA exhausted all possible avenues to potentially postpone competition for both upcoming basketball championships and spring sport competition. We believe following the recommendations of the CDC is in the best interest of our member colleges and our student-athletes.”

Three Rivers competes in baseball and softball. Those athletes will be charged a year of participation.

All on and off-campus recruiting for all sports will also be on hold until April 15 with “further evaluation to be assessed” at that time, the NJCAA announced.

The Three Rivers softball team was 11-2 with eight sophomores while the Raiders baseball team was 11-11 and features 13 sophomores.