Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson middle schools in Jefferson City will return to in-seat instruction Monday.
The Jefferson City School District believes the past two weeks of distance learning for these schools have stopped COVID-19 spread within the school environment and allowed time for current cases and quarantines to run their course, district officials wrote in an email sent to families Wednesday.
The two schools switched to distance learning Oct. 13 due to a significant staffing shortage from teachers in quarantine and a lack of substitutes. Most of these employees were quarantined from being exposed to COVID-19 outside of school, Communications Director Ryan Burns said.
The district is urging staff, students and families to wash their hands, stay home if sick, maintain social distance, avoid large gatherings of 25 or more and wear masks to prevent the spread of the virus at home and at school.
"The implementation of these key priorities both at school and at home is vital to keeping schools open," the email states. "We must all continue to follow these core public health measures in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our school community."
Since school began Aug. 24, Thomas Jefferson Middle School has had 36 COVID-19 cases resulting in 57 close contacts, and Lewis and Clark Middle School has had 16 cases and 20 close contacts, according to the school district's website.
The district lists new cases on its website daily, but the website does not show how many cases are active. The district is not publicly tracking cases or close contacts that occur outside of school.
This article was updated at 12:45 p.m. Oct. 21, 2020, with additional details.