So far I have heard through my kids’ grapevine that Horace Mann, Poly Prep, Spence, Brearley and Nightingale are all closing for the week. Friends is closing after tomorrow’s school day, according to a parent at Tokyo Bay. What else have people heard? Joining them are Columbia, Barnard, Princeton, Fordham and Yeshiva and a bunch of other public school systems in Westchester and Jersey.

The city has announced that it plans to keep schools open, but it is hiring an additional 85 nurses so that every building has one (really?? they didn’t already?). All international school trips have been cancelled for the remainder of the school year. After sending a survey to nonpublic schools to help identify shortage of paper towels, soap, hand sanitizers, and medical supplies, the Department of Education will distribute materials to any school experiencing shortages.

And the governor has announced a statewide policy that as soon as a case is discovered in a school building it must be closed for at least 24 hours.

Meanwhile, ICYMI, the Times has an oped suggesting that kids should stay home to reduce the potential for a pandemic.