California public schools will remain closed until May 4.
The Moniteau County R-1 School District Board of Education voted to extend the school closure during a special meeting Thursday night.
The closure originally was scheduled to end April 6.
With the planned last day of school May 20, classes would reconvene for about two and a half weeks total before summer break if the closure isn't extended again.
The board discussed the potential of extending the school year beyond May 20, but didn't come to any decision Thursday.
Superintendent Dwight Sanders said if everything as decided this week goes to plan, the last couple weeks of in-person classes likely would revolve more around helping California students finish out the year with some sense of normalcy.
"If we are coming back to school and we're limited in how much time we're coming back I think that the productivity of that period of time is really going to be viewed as can we create a sense of normalcy this year so that when we start back to school next year, we kind of hit the ground running instead of trying to reset ourselves again," Sanders said.
Sanders said these remaining dates in May wouldn't necessarily possess much instructional value, nor would extending the school year - rather, the goal would be to help students reform relationships and perhaps try to carry on with milestone events like prom and graduation.
"Primarily the seniors, I want them to get some normalcy in ending the school year and finishing their career the way they should finish it, with graduation and prom, as much of that as we can get for them," said California High School Principal Sean Kirksey.
The board maintained some optimism in being able to target these events if a May 4 return is in the cards.
Nearby school districts, including Russellville and Jefferson City, extended their closures until May earlier this week. Sanders said California should look at what other districts are doing, also keeping in mind that surrounding counties have begun issuing stay-at-home orders.
During the closure so far, Sanders said, the district is serving 315 meals to students each day. The district has continued paying a portion of its normal daily rate to Durham School Services so it can continue providing salaries to drivers. The board agreed it should continue contributing the amount decided upon last month, $2,468.51 per day, or about 75 percent of the normal daily rate.
The Board of Education's next regular meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. April 15.