Gov. Reeves closes Mississippi schools for the remainder of the semester

JACKSON, Miss. (WLOX) - Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that Mississippi schools will remain closed for the rest of the semester. His decision comes as the state’s shelter in place order is set to expire in one week on April 20.

Reeves said educators should continue distance learning while they remain closed.

“I know how hard teachers, students, all staff, and parents have been working during this dangerous time. You have my deep respect and sincere admiration. It has been so encouraging to see the efforts of our education community to protect the people of Mississippi while ensuring learning takes place. I know our education community will do whatever it takes to make sure Mississippi kids don’t fall behind,” Governor Reeves said.

He said the thought of the young kids has made the decision tough on him, but the emergency ultimately deemed it not safe to reopen schools. He said students who follow along with distance learning should be able to graduate on time.

A ‘Reopen Mississippi’ task force will work to kickstart the economy once the state is ready to reopen. A representative from each part of the state will be on the board, led by Joe Sanderson of Sanderson Farms.

Reeves also discussed the latest efforts to combat COVID-19 as well as deadly Easter Sunday storms that ripped through the state.

Mississippi now has over 3,000 cases of the coronavirus, according to state health officials on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, April 14, the Mississippi Department of Health reported 3,087 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. Statewide, 145 new cases and 13 new deaths were reported Tuesday.

MSDH reports a total of 441 South Mississippi residents with the virus. That is up 35 cases from what was reported for the six coastal counties on Monday.

Copyright 2020 WLOX. All rights reserved.