Denver Public Schools will close for three weeks starting Monday due to coronavirus

Several have already closed because parents have tested positive for COVID-19.

Denver Public Schools buses at their home off Federal Boulevard, Dec. 14, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Esteban L. Hernandez

Mar. 12, 2020, 7:05 p.m.

Denver Public Schools is closing for three weeks starting on Monday, the district said Thursday.

School buildings will be closed March 18 through April 3 for students so schools can be disinfected.

DPS will offer free meals to students in need through April 7, including breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m. and lunch from noon to 1 p.m. at Abraham Lincoln High School, Place Bridge, Shoemaker Elementary, Lincoln High, North High, Montbello, Manual and Baker. However the district will not offer busing to and from the meals in order to avoid grouping children.

DPS does not have plans for childcare for parents.

Three DPS schools were closed this week for deep-cleaning due to COVID-19 exposure. The schools were closed after parents of students there tested positive for COVID-19.

One student at a school closed this week, John H. Amesse Elementary School, was being tested for the disease.

The last district-wide shutdown happened in April 2019 when the FBI searched for a young woman suspected of making threats against local schools.

This is a developing story.

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