Starting Tuesday, March 17, Marshall County schools will be closed until Monday, April 6.

School Director Jacob Sorrells announced the closure Monday morning, as the state attempts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, COVID 19.

Gov. Bill Lee issued a statement on Monday morning, in which he “urged” all of the state’s school systems to close as soon as possible until at least March 31.

Lee’s statement is a reminder of how quickly the guidance in response to the pandemic changes.

As late as Friday afternoon, Sorrells said that no one at the state level had suggested that the system needed to close.

Sorrells said that further information about extracurricular activities and about the possibility of the school system to continue providing students with lunches during the closure would be forthcoming.

The Marshall County School Board had scheduled a special called meeting for Monday night prior to the closure announcement in order to consider whether out-of-state student group trips should be allowed to go ahead.

Following the schools system’s lead, the Lewisburg Recreation Center announced that it too would be closing, beginning Tuesday until April 5.

The Marshall County Memorial Library will be open limited hours on Tuesday for materials to be checked out and returned, then both branches of the library will remain closed until April 5 as well.