Warhill High School is closed for at least two weeks.
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools shut down the high school after an uptick in coronavirus cases among staff –– five cases since Nov. 4 with four of the cases being reported in the past week.
“Teachers and staff are working remotely and return to the building on Nov. 30,” said Eileen Cox, spokeswoman for WJCC Schools, adding the decision was made out of an abundance of caution.
Teachers and staff were coming to the school building and working, remotely teaching inside their classrooms.
Cox said “one small group of students” –– about a dozen students considered special education and English learners –– were at Warhill and have now gone back to remote learning.
She reiterated the decision to have staff work remotely for two weeks was made “out of an abundance of caution” even though the cases “appears to be limited to one department.”
Cox did not identify the department because it might “potentially identify the small number of employees.” She did note, however, the department “does not interact with students in the building right now.”
When asked if the Nov. 30 date was concrete or tentative for staff to return to Warhill, Cox said yes.
In addition, 12th grade students are supposed to return to school for several in-person learning days starting on Nov. 30, but the timeline for the Warhill 12th grade students could change.
Cox said “a decision hasn’t been made on that yet” but the division will keep families posted on the timeline.
At this time, the division does not plan to close other schools in the district.
According to the WJCC’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which was last updated on Monday, there have been 17 positive coronavirus cases among staff since July 1.
The latest numbers for the Peninsula Health District, including the Historic Triangle area are below, courtesy of the Virginia Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard:
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