Schools in RSU 56 along with the Region 9 School of Applied Technology closed temporarily on Monday after multiple people in the district tested positive for COVID-19.
The district, which encompasses Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, and Peru, will be closed for the next two weeks, according to an update released Tuesday afternoon.
The RSU had originally planned to close for just 72 hours to disinfect buildings after receiving its first positive case.
Doyen noted that “more than one individual” associated with the school system recently tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, although she did not state an exact number of cases.
Oxford County reported five new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The two-week closure comes shortly after the Region 9 school in Mexico first announced that a member of its student body had tested positive.
“Any student and staff member who may have had close contact with the student who tested positive will now be quarantined for 14 days,” the school said in a Monday Facebook post.
After that post, Director Brenda Gammon said she received a call from the Maine CDC of a second confirmed case, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
All students will receive remote instruction during the next two weeks and are expected to return to school on Sept. 29, unless otherwise advised, Doyen said.