Courtesy Image An illustration of the coronavirus provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LINCOLN — Alcona Community Schools will transition to remote learning Thursday because newly reported COVID-19 infections and subsequent quarantines are impacting district operations.

Superintendent Dan O’Connor said today it wasn’t possible for the district to continue operations because one-seventh of its student population are in quarantine and there aren’t enough substitutes to cover employees who either tested positive for the virus or are in quarantine.

He said the food service and transportation departments, which are pretty essential to keep students in the classroom, are “significantly impacted.”

Students will learn asynchronous on Thursday and Friday, with full-scale online remote learning to begin on Monday and end on April 19.

“We’re hoping to resume by the 19th, but if positive cases and quarantines continue to rise between now and then, then that could be extended,” O’Connor said. “We really need our family and community help to try to buckle down here so that we can resume face-to-face learning in a week-and-a-half.”