Ninth through 12th grade students at Union Public Schools will be on distance learning starting Thursday through next week.
The district announced Wednesday students at Union High School, Union High School Freshman Academy and Union Alternative School will return to in-person school on Feb. 8.
"Due to significant teacher absences at the secondary level, we’ve reached the point where we do not have enough substitutes available to adequately cover classrooms at these grade levels," Superintendent Dr. Kirt Hartzler said in a statement.
As of Tuesday, Union had 27 staff members positive for COVID-19 and another 110 in quarantine because of close contact. The district had 79 students positive for COVID-19 and another 928 in quarantine. Union did not adopt a new policy from Gov. Kevin Stitt allowing students and staff exposed to COVID-19 at school to avoid quarantine if everyone was wearing a mask.
Extracurricular activities will continue as planned, except for boys and girls basketball. Union announced Tuesday all basketball games this week were canceled.
