Following concerns over the spread of COVID-19, The Meridian Public School District has extended spring break an extra week, March 16-20.

This includes all athletic events and practices as well as extracurricular activities.

St. Patrick Catholic School in Meridian will be closed Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17.

Quitman School District students, teachers, and teacher assistants will not return to school on Monday, March 16.

Principals, assistant principals, directors, counselors, clerical staff, and hourly employees will report to school. School officials will notify notify everyone by noon on Monday with information on whether or not the students and faculty return school on Tuesday.

Colleges and Universities

Meridian Community College announced Friday morning it was extending its spring break and shifting to online classes for many classes when students return.

The decision was made after reviewing information shared by the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and higher education colleagues from across the state, MCC announced in a statement.

The decisions were made to reduce the transmission of the virus on campus and to the community, according to the statement.

Steps, according to the statement, include:

• MCC will extend spring break for students taking classes on campus, March 16-20. Faculty and staff will report to work for normal operations on March 16 and will be focused on converting courses to online and alternative formats. Students currently enrolled in online courses will continue as normal.

• Classes will resume on March 23 in an online or alternative format. Some career technical programs will continue in a traditional format with added precautions.

• MCC will restrict all out-of-state and international travel unless deemed necessary by the president.

• Residence halls will be open for students to return on March 22 and computer labs and student support will be made available for students who need them beginning on March 23. Students living on campus will receive additional information before March 22.

Faculty, staff, and students who have been to an impacted area or believe they may have come in contact with the coronavirus in another venue are asked to self-quarantine for at least 14 days before returning to work or school, according to the statement. If a student or faculty or staff member exhibits any symptoms, the school asks that they not return to the college until they have been medically cleared.

All campus activities and events at MCC have been canceled until further notice.

The Mississippi Association of Community Colleges announced that all athletic practices and games have been suspended through March 30.

MCC President Tom Huebner said closing the school was a tough decision, but the focus is to make sure everyone is safe. The college will not completely close, as faculty and staff will have to be campus to help with online classes, Huebner said.

Students who already stay on campus for breaks will be allowed to stay, he said.

MCC’s website, www.meridiancc.edu/coronavirus, contains links with the latest information.

Mississippi State University – Meridian

MSU Meridian also suspended classes for the week after spring break, March 16-22. The suspension applies to students only; faculty and staff will continue with normal operating procedures. 

The school also suspended all university-sponsored events and gatherings, including events sponsored by any registered student organization.

More information can be found at msstate.edu/coronavirus. 

East Mississippi Community College

East Mississippi Community College is also extending spring break until Monday, March 23. The school asked that all residential students refrain from returning to campus until further notice, as campus facilities are being sterilized.

The school is also limiting all non-essential gatherings of more than 25 people in hopes of minimizing the time spent in proximity to one another in confined spaces such as classrooms, dining halls, and residential buildings. As a result, all campus activities and events are canceled until further notice. 

Faculty and staff will return to work Monday, March 16 to maintain critical operations; however, those who are able to work remotely are asked to do so. Employees who have traveled to high-risk areas are asked to self-quarantine. 

More information can be found at eastms.edu/coronavirus/

University of West Alabama

The Alabama Department of Public Health confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the state Friday morning. The patient is in Montgomery County, according to the ADPH website.

The University of West Alabama announced earlier this week that six employees who attended a conference in New Orleans stayed in the same hotel as a person who tested presumptively positive for COVID-19. The employees were self-quarantined pending confirmation of the hotel guest’s test results, the college said. No one on the campus has the virus, the school said. 

The university will move all on-campus classes online starting April 6. Classes on campus will continue to meet through March 20, and the school will close as scheduled for spring break March 23-27. On-campus classes will be suspended March 30-April 3 to allow time for the school to transition to online instruction.

Students who live on campus are not required to return when classes resume on April 6, and can continue their classes online.

More information is available at www.uwa.edu/coronavirus.