High school delays in-person learning after party

DOVER, Mass. (AP) - A second Massachusetts high school is delaying the beginning of in-person learning after students held a house party amid the coroanvirus pandemic.

Andrew W. Keough, superintendent of Dover-Sherborn Public Schools, said in an email to parents Monday that school would begin remotely for all high school students as a result of the party held Friday night, WFXT-TV reported. Police responded to the party that had up to 150 people who weren’t wearing marks or social distancing and were “drinking in excess,” he said.

“In choosing to flout the rules set down by society in the pandemic, they have now put us all at risk,” Keough said.

Emergency board of health meetings were held this weekend in Dover and Sherborn. The high school’s hybrid learning plan is now delayed until Sept. 21, the TV station reported.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School also recently announced that it would switch to remote-only learning after dozens of students attended a party without taking proper coronavirus-prevention measures.

That party involved alcohol and a “complete lack of safety precautions to protect against the spread of COVID,” Lincoln-Sudbury Principal Bella Wong said in a letter to the school community.

Because it’s not clear exactly who attended the party, the Sudbury Board of Health is mandating that all high school students must undergo full remote learning for 14 days.