High COVID Cases Transition Summit Schools To Remote Learning

SUMMIT, NJ — Summit Public Schools will transition to fully remote instruction for all students Thursday, Jan. 6 and Friday, Jan . 7 due to a high positivity rate of COVID-19 cases in the district.

The district announced Wednesday night that the Summit Schools will alter the original plan for in-person half-days this week to fully remote learning Thursday and Friday.

Superintendent Scott Hough said more than 1,000 students and 100 staff members took advantage of the district-wide COVID testing day on Monday, Jan. 3.

In his message to the community yesterday, Hough wrote, "Mirimus, Inc., the diagnostic company that conducted the testing in our district, informed us this afternoon that current testing pools are trending at an approximately 50% positivity rate. This is not the type of news we had hoped to hear and, while we have not received our district’s final results from Mirimus, it is reasonable to believe that we will track within this trend."

Because of these results, Hough said the district is close to its maximum ability to staff all the buildings, and they potentially have to conduct contact tracing for hundreds of students. Hough said the move the remote learning is meant to be a short-term solution.

Communications Officer Laurene Callander said the district's goal is to return to full day in-person instruction on Monday, Jan. 10. The district will continue to update the school community if anything changes.

Grab-and-go lunches will be available for all students to pick up Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Summit High School and Jefferson Elementary School.

Get a free morning newsletter with news in Summit or another town: https://patch.com/subscribe