Burlington Cancels School Monday Amid Unprecedented COVID Surge

BURLINGTON, MA — There will be no school Monday in Burlington amid an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases.

Superintendent Eric Conti said in a letter to parents that school the return from winter break has been pushed back a day. The district had swapped a future professional development day in for Monday, meaning class is canceled.

School will resume Tuesday.

"We understand that last minute changes in the calendar are a hardship for many families," Conti's letter read. "The use of Monday for staff development will allow us to get everyone tested systematically and up to date with the new state guidance around health and safety protocols. We are also concerned with the number of staff that could be out on Monday."

The state has provided districts with at-home rapid antigen tests to be distributed to staff for self-use before returning to school.

The state has been setting news daily records in COVID-19 cases, a surge fueled in large part by the highly contagious omicron variant. Thursday's public health data showed 312 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Burlington over the previous two weeks, about 10 percent of the town's total during the entire pandemic.