(QUINCY) – Students in the Quincy School District will not be returning to face to face instruction until January 11.

In a post on the Quincy Schools Facebook page, Superintendent Marc Kramer says they recognize that in person learning is the best approach for their students and it has been the District's goal to get students back in school for face to face learning. Since Quincy transitioned to the virtual platform, they have been monitoring the county data to determine when it might be best to return to in person learning.

Kramer says it was their hope that they could return for some face to face instruction time before the Holiday Break. But this week he attended a virtual Emergency Operations Meeting for the county and talked with the local health department. In the meeting Kramer says he received updates on county numbers. Branch County is still experiencing a high rate of positive tests, much higher than back in August, September, and October. Branch County is also 3rd in the state with the number of cases per million which means there is still a significant amount of COVID-19 out in the community and community spread is still at higher numbers.

With the Thanksgiving Holiday taking place last weekend, the health department is also concerned about more cases coming out in the next few days.

Given all of this information and support from the Health Department to remain virtual through this time, Kramer says they have made the decision to stay virtual through the Holiday Break and not return to face to face instruction until January 11.