The Philadelphia School District will shift at least 81 schools to virtual learning for the rest of the week due to staffing challenges amid the recent spike in COVID-19 omicron cases over winter break.

“As we’ve always said, our goal is to keep the District open so we can surround our young people with the caring educators and support services they need – as long as we can do so safely,” Superintendent Dr. William Hite said. “District leaders have been meeting regularly with local public health officials to monitor the COVID-19 situation, and we’ve also been closely tracking data to determine COVID’s impact on staff coverage in schools. We will continue to do this and make school-by-school decisions based on the latest available data.”

Some families were given only hours before the planned return from winter break to plan for remote learning.

The list of schools shifting to 100% remote learning grew to 81 overnight with four more schools added late Monday night. The online learning will go Tuesday to at least Friday. The full list of schools can be found here.

Principals will communicate with the students at the schools and their families in regards to virtual instruction. Staff at the dozens of schools are expected to still report to work in person unless they are self-isolating or quarantining due to COVID testing or exposure, have COVID-like symptoms and are awaiting test results, or have an approved leave.

All other schools in the district will continue in-person learning though the health and safety protocols will continue to be enforced. Those protocols include mandatory mask wearing for students and staff regardless of vaccination status as well as weekly COVID-19 testing for employees and on-site testing for students who have COVID-like symptoms during the school day.