Austin ISD extends spring break to at least April 3 due to coronavirus

Austin ISD students will not return to class until April 6 at the earliest after district Superintendent Paul Cruz announced plans to cancel classes through Friday, April 3 at a news conference March 16.

Originally scheduled for March 16-20, AISD’s spring break for students will now run from March 16-April 3 due to coronavirus concerns in Travis County.

“It may go longer, but at this time we will have no classes for two weeks,” Cruz said at the news conference. “I want to make sure families and staff members know we may need to prepare for a longer period of time.”

For district employees, Cruz said beginning March 23 the district will be operating under a modified work schedule.

At an emergency board meeting March 13, trustees declared a state of disaster in the district, which gave Cruz emergency authorization to take potential actions to address coronavirus without board approval. Actions could include class cancellations and purchasing district supplies needed for district operations.

The order also assured that district employees would continue to be paid during the closures.

The spring break announcement comes as other districts in Central Texas have decided to postpone their return to class as well.