Release: #20-13
March 18, 2020
Contact: Communications
E-mail: communications@cde.ca.gov
Phone: 916-319-0818

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Hosts COVID-19 Webinar to Support Schools and Clarify New State Guidelines

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent Tony Thurmond today hosted a webinar for district, school and county office education leaders to walk through new state guidance documents released last night, covering the areas of distance learning, special education, meals/nutrition services, and child care support. The document issued by Governor Newsom yesterday was created under the March 13 Executive Order N-26-20 to address many of the immediate concerns that teachers, administrators, and parents are facing in the wake of COVID-19-related school closures.

“We are currently experiencing very difficult times, unchartered territory, experiences that we’ve never seen before. In spite of that fact, Californians are resilient and I want to acknowledge the resilience of our students, our teachers, our staff, our administrators, and the parents of our students,” said Thurmond during his opening remarks.

To view the guidance document and for more information about coronavirus (COVID-19), please see the CDE’s Coronavirus web page.

State Superintendent Thurmond, State Board President Linda Darling-Hammond, and California Department of Education staff are working diligently to answer questions as quickly as possible. The California Department of Education will issue updates to this guidance and others every Friday, in addition to issuing new and updated guidance as the need arises.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, March 18, 2020