LAKE LINDEN — The Lake Linden-Hubbell Public Schools will move to virtual learning for one week after several new COVID-19 positives in the district.

Since the district returned from holiday break last week, there had been three confirmed positive cases among staff, three among students, and two probable student cases, according to the district’s COVID-19 case reporting.

On Friday, the district reported on its Facebook page a member of the kitchen staff had tested positive, making all but one of the kitchen staff unavailable for the next 10 days. While trying to find ways to work around the staff’s unavailability, the district learned of two elementary students who had tested positive, Superintendent Brad Codere said in the post.

“Trust me when I say that this decision was not made lightly,” he said in the post. “I understand that having students home for the day makes things difficult for many families. We all know that being in school is the best situation for our kids. We have just gotten to a point where the best thing to do is take a week and plan to get back face-to-face with healthy students again on Monday, January 18th.”

Students were notified of the closure shortly before school let out Friday. They will be able to return to the school next week to pick up any needed items, the post said. Elementary students will have things bused to their house.

In the elementary, teachers will work with students through packets and Zoom meetings, which will be set up through email. Teachers in the middle and high school set up a schedule for students, which was included in the Facebook post. The schedule was set up in a way as to avoid students needed to spend the entire day on Zoom, Codere said in the post.

Students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and at-risk students who teachers feel need assistance can come in; transportation will be provided if necessary. Available to high school students before the holiday break, this will now be provided to all grade levels.

If students take career and technical education classes at the Copper Country Intermediate School District, they can still attend as long as they do not have to quarantine.