Newman University extends spring break amid coronavirus concerns
Wichita’s Newman University has become the first Wichita college to announce plans to extend its spring break by an extra week over concerns about the spread of coronavirus.
On Thursday morning, interim president Teresa Hall Bartels sent a message to the Newman community saying that the school, which starts a week-long spring break on Monday, would not resume face-to-face classes until March 30. Online classes will continue as normal, the e-mail said.
Spokespeople at Wichita State University said they were still in discussions about their options. Friends University, which has spring break next week, said it is planning to continue with classes and will spend time while students are gone disinfecting. If plans change, they’ll update students at friends.edu/coronavirus.
The University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Emporia State University, all of which are on spring break now, all also announced over the past two days plans to cancel face-to-face classes next week. Starting March 23, all will conduct classes online only until further notice.
Also on Thursday morning, Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson announced plans to host a Zoom meeting at noon to offer guidance to Kansas school districts on the issue.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
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