SALEM — Public schools will not reopen again this school year, as the state works to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kate Brown announced Wednesday.

In a widely anticipated move, Brown extended a March school closure past its April 28 expiration, ensuring that students and teachers will not congregate in person before summer break.

“This decision is important because it is about safety,” Brown said at a press conference where physical attendance was strictly limited. “It is first and foremost to protect our kids and teachers. It is impossible to adhere to social distancing measures in our classrooms and schools.”

Brown also announced new Oregon Department of Education guidelines for graduating seniors. The rules ensure that students will graduate on time if seniors were expected to pass their courses. The guidance also asks that teachers work with students who were struggling prior to schools closing on March 12, so they can also receive diplomas.

That could involve students working with school districts through August in an attempt to bring themselves up to a passing grade, ODE Director Colt Gill said.

“We want them to know one thing for sure. That is that we believe in them,” Gill said of Oregon seniors. “We know that they can succeed.”

Hermiston School District released a statement Wednesday letting students and parents know that staff are reviewing each senior’s classes and will be reaching out to them individually to discuss their status.

“As the situation continues to evolve and the district has guidance regarding students in grades 9-11, the district will communicate further at that time,” the document stated.

The district will continue to provide breakfast and lunch to students via its bus routes, and has checked out Chromebooks to families in need of a device for their student to continue coursework online. Students without internet access can find free Wi-Fi hotspots around town by visiting https://wifi.xfinity.com and searching for their ZIP code.

Details, such as when students will be able to collect personal items from their lockers and desks, are still being worked out.

“Thank you to the Hermiston community for its continued support and understanding through this unprecedented public health crisis,” Hermiston School District Superintendent Tricia Mooney said in a statement. “It is during trying times such as this that we see the true strength of a community.”

She said in-person classes are expected to resume on Aug. 24 for the 2020-21 school year.

Brown’s decision, expected for weeks, follows Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement on Monday he was closing his state’s public schools for the year. Idaho’s State Board of Education reached a similar decision Monday, as well. It comes as Oregon officials have voiced cautious optimism that a March 23 “stay home” order has helped to slow transmission of the COVID-19 disease in the state.

As of Wednesday afternoon, state health officials reported 1,181 confirmed cases of the disease in the state, along with 33 deaths. But while the number of cases has ticked up reliably each day, modeling suggests the state’s health care resources won’t be overrun if it continues on the current trajectory.

The closure of schools does not mean that students won’t receive instruction between now and the end of the school year. The Oregon Department of Education last month issued a “distance learning for all” plan that seeks to ensure districts around the state continue to teach students in times with no recent precedent. Districts have been employing that guidance with mixed success.

After admitting he’s been wrong before, InterMountain Education Service District Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said he thought the governor’s latest order paired with the state’s new graduation plan would be the last major changes to the education system for the year.

With school facilities officially closed for the rest of the year, Mulvihill said districts will need to get creative in closing the gap between students with internet and those without.

Mulvihill said districts have worked with internet providers to expand access, but the problem of rural broadband has been an issue the IMESD has worked on long before the pandemic.

“Putting fiber in the ground is dang expensive,” he said.

State testing had already been canceled for the year.

Still unclear is whether school districts will have to cancel graduation ceremonies that have been planned around the state. Gill said officials are waiting to see what happens with the coronavirus before making that decision officially.

At a local level, Mulvihill said some ideas he’s heard bandied about include virtual graduation ceremonies or moving the event to July.

Brown’s announcement had the approval of state school officials. Julia Brim-Edwards, a school board member for Portland Public Schools, called on the governor to close school buildings and support distance learning in a Wednesday morning tweet, when the decision appeared imminent.

Jim Green, executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, said in a statement he supported the governor’s decision to issue blanket graduation requirements.

“We firmly believe in local control, but in these unprecedented circumstances a statewide approach is both equitable and cuts through a lot of red tape,” said Green, noting it was “sad” that graduation ceremonies would be canceled. “Taking this step now gives students and schools needed certainty that those all-important diplomas have been earned and are being issued.”

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Reporter Jade McDowell contributed to this story.