This story is part of Houston Public Media's ongoing coronavirus coverage. For more stories and information about the coronavirus, visit the Houston Ready Hub.
Update 3:26 p.m. Tuesday March 17: HCC has updated its status.
Many Houston-area school districts, private schools and institutions of higher education are taking steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the region.
Gov. Greg Abbott has also waived the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) testing requirements for the 2019-2020 school year.
Here’s the latest rundown of cancellations and closings:
Higher Education
- Houston Community College: Students should not report back to class until March 30. At that time, HCC will provide online, hybrid and small-group class options, as well as possible classes by appointment, depending on the course. Both the Fraga Academic Building and Coleman College are set to reopen March 30, after one student was cleared of a potential coronavirus exposure, and another remains asymptomatic.
- Prairie View A&M University: Classes are suspended until March 23; campus remains open.
- Rice University: Classes are suspended this week and all events with more than 100 people are cancelled through April. The school is transitioning to fully remote instruction for the rest of the semester, starting March 23. Undergraduate residential colleges are closed to most students until March 25.
- South Texas College of Law Houston: All on-campus classes are cancelled and courses will move online, starting March 12.
- Texas Southern University: TSU cancelled classes for Friday, and is on spring break through March 22. The school will resume instruction March 23.
- University of St. Thomas: Classes cancelled March 12-13. Classes will resume online after spring break, on March 23. Campus remains open.
- University of Houston: Classes are cancelled next week and will resume online March 23. Dorms and dining service are still available to students, and offices and laboratories remain open.
- University of Houston-Victoria: Spring break started early March 12, with all in-person and online classes cancelled. Decisions about classes after spring break will be made next week.
K-12
- Aldine Independent School District: Aldine ISD schools are closed through March 23, with classes resuming on March 24.
- Alief Independent School District: Alief ISD schools and offices are closed through April 10.
- Brazosport Independent School District: Brazosport ISD schools and offices are closed through April 10.
- Channelview Independent School District: Channelview ISD has suspended all classes through April 10.
- Clear Creek Independent School District: Clear Creek ISD schools are closed through April 10. The district is also asking families and staff members who have traveled over spring break to self-report their travels, either nationally or internationally.
- Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District: Cy-Fair ISD has closed schools and offices until April 9.
- Dickinson Independent School District: Schools in Dickinson ISD are closed through April 10.
- Fort Bend Independent School District: Fort Bend ISD will suspend classes through April 10. The district is working on possible online instruction, and working on a meal plan for students in most need of healthy meals.
- Houston Independent School District: HISD is closed through April 10. All Spring Break camps and University Interscholastic League events have been canceled. District administration will determine whether a longer closure is necessary, on April 6.
- Humble Independent School District: The district is closing buildings and events through April 10.
- Katy Independent School District: Katy ISD is closed through April 10.
- Klein Independent School District: The district is cancelling all classes and events through April 10. A person in the district community was exposed to a presumptive positive case of COVID-19, the district said. That person and their family are self-quarantined. Klein ISD has been preparing a plan for long-term delivery of instruction. The district will also provide free curbside meals at Klein Intermediate, Wunderlich Intermediate, Mittelstadt Elementary, and Schultz Elementary from 8-11 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Families can pick up enough free meals to cover the entire week for anyone 18 years old or under in the household.
- Montgomery Independent School District: Montgomery ISD classes are cancelled through April 10.
- Pearland Independent School District: Pearland ISD is suspending classes through April 10.
- Santa Fe Independent School District: Santa Fe ISD will be closed through April 10.
- Spring Independent School District: Spring ISD has cancelled all classes through April 10.
- Spring Branch Independent School District: Spring Branch ISD has cancelled all classes through April 10.
- St. Thomas’ Episcopal School: The private school in Meyerland closed early for spring break for two weeks after a student was possibly exposed to the virus.
- Tomball Independent School District: Tomball ISD has closed schools through April 10.