Five schools in the Scottsdale (Ariz.) district were closed Monday because they lacked adequate staffing,.
The Arizona Republic reports that Scottsdale Superintendent Scott Menzel sent a letter to families Sunday informing them that Arcadia High School, Chaparral High School, Desert Mountain High School, Cocopah Middle School and Mountainside Middle School would be closed for one day.
"Unfortunately, we have learned over the weekend that we do not have an adequate number of teachers or substitutes to cover all teacher absences tomorrow," Menzel said in the letter.
The superintendent stressed that the closures are not the result of any Covid-19 outbreaks in schools.
The district serves more than 23,000 students across 29 campuses and one online high school, according to its website.
UPDATE: Menzel announced Monday that Arcadia High, Chaparral High and Desert Mountain High would return to online-only learning for the rest of the semester as Covid-19 cases continue to spike.
The district has asked that any students who traveled over the Thanksgiving break or spent time in person with people outside of their immediate family quarantine at home and do remote learning for two weeks.
"It is likely that many of our students and staff who chose to travel for the holiday have been exposed to Covid and may or may not be symptomatic when we return to school tomorrow," Menzel says.
The district's request comes as Arizona is experiencing a second surge in Covid-19 cases that officials and experts expect will keep rising because of Thanksgiving visits and the coming holidays.
