Citing staffing issues, Princeton High School students will learn remotely during the week of Jan. 3-7, according to Superintendent of Schools Carol Kelley.
The Princeton Public Schools’ elementary schools and the Princeton Middle School will have in-person instruction, but there are not enough teachers to open Princeton High School, Kelley wrote in a letter to school district families.
“We appreciate the fact that many parents will need to keep their students home (on Jan. 3), and we will work to provide the most robust options possible for students who will be remote,” Kelley wrote.
Students had been asked to fill out the COVID-19 screening tool Jan. 2 to provide the district with a sense of how many students would be staying at home and learning remotely on Jan. 3.
“At the same time, we believe that for many students being in school is the best possible option, and we continue to strive to keep our schools open,” Kelley wrote.
If necessary, the district will switch to remote learning on a class-by-class or school-by-school basis to minimize the number of students who are learning remotely, she wrote.
“Recent days have been difficult for many PPS students, families and staff who have received positive test results or who have been unable to obtain a test,” Kelley wrote.
Kelley urged parents to supply their children with high-quality masks, such as KN95, N95 or surgical masks – but not cloth masks – because of the high transmissibility of COVID-19.
Through Dec. 23, 2021, 74 students had tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, according to the Princeton Public Schools’ COVID-19 dashboard. Also, 21 teachers have received positive test results for COVID-19 during the same timeframe.