Late Friday afternoon Zanesville City Schools announced that due to a multitude of reasons, the district would be moving to fully remote instruction beginning partially next week.

The district follows Maysville Local Schools, which announced Wednesday that they would also be moving to fully remote instruction beginning next week.

Zanesville City Schools had been operating on a hybrid learning model since early October when the county had first reached a Level 3 Red Public Health Emergency as categorized by the Ohio Department of Health.

The district’s COVID-19 action plan, which had been crafted over the summer, laid out circumstances for when, if necessary, its schools would move to either partially remote or fully remote instruction.

According to a post on the district’s Facebook page, the change was due to an upward trend of positive COVID-19 cases within the district, as well as their related quarantines, which pushed the school system to make the tough decision to transition to fully remote instruction.

Because the district is currently operating on a hybrid learning model, students will need to return one day next week to receive further instructions and materials.

Group A students will attend class on Monday, December 7 and Group B students will attend on Wednesday, December 9 for one single day of instruction before the district closes for the rest of the year.

The post stated that the district hopes to have students return in person following Martin Luther King Junior Day on Monday, January 18.

The district will continue to allow extracurricular activities, however, should Muskingum County move to a Level 4 Purple Public Health Emergency, those events are likely to be canceled, the post elaborated.

As with Maysville, the district will have pickup locations for meals to ensure all students have access to quality healthy food while away from the classroom.