Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Central Bucks School District cancels school citing COVID-related teacher absences

“Once again, this situation has presented a problem that will require our collective wisdom and patience as a school community," Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh wrote in a letter Sunday.

Community members wait in the rain with their signs outside the Central Bucks School Board meeting on Dec. 6. The district announced schools would be closed Monday due to an unprecedented number of teacher absences because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Community members wait in the rain with their signs outside the Central Bucks School Board meeting on Dec. 6. The district announced schools would be closed Monday due to an unprecedented number of teacher absences because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Central Bucks School District canceled classes for Monday, citing an “unprecedented need for substitute teachers that far exceeds the number available” due to the omicron-related surge in COVID-19 cases.

The announcement was made in a letter Sunday to the school community from Superintendent Abram M. Lucabaugh, who promised additional details Monday.

Lucabaugh did not say how many teachers were expected to be absent, saying only that “we have a significant number of staff who will be absent from work tomorrow across every school and operating division within our district.”

With the Christmas holiday ending amid rising cases of COVID-19, some school districts in the region have decided to go virtual for at least the first couple weeks of the new year. Some of the most recent were public schools in Collingswood, Oaklyn and Burlington Township in South Jersey. Camden City School District and Pennsauken Schools also said they would go virtual.

On Saturday, Lower Merion School District said it would close schools Monday to assess if the district has enough staff to keep schools open and if some schools need to go virtual.

Central Bucks plans a similar review, Lucabaugh said in his letter Sunday.

“Once again, this situation has presented a problem that will require our collective wisdom and patience as a school community,” he wrote. Administrative meetings were planned for Monday “to determine next steps for the remainder of the week, should these extremely high absentee rates persist,” Lucabaugh said, adding “we will continue to consider all possible solutions in order to accomplish our goal of in-person instruction.”

The School District of Philadelphia said it intends to open schools this week.