Warren Schools To Close Through April 12, Start Alternate Plan

WARREN, NJ — All Warren Township Schools and Watchung Hills Regional High School will close for four weeks and implement a distance learning plan due to new coronavirus concerns, school officials announced Thursday night.

All Warren schools and WHRHS will have a two-hour delayed opening on Friday. The closure of the schools and implementation of the new plan will begin on Monday and run through the end of spring break on Sunday, April 12.

All field trips, school events, and activities are also postponed, effective Saturday for the high school and 4 p.m. on Friday for Warren schools.

New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about novel coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

"Our number one priority continues to be the health and well-being of our students, teachers, and staff members. Though we currently have no confirmed cases of Coronavirus at WHRHS, as you know, we have been proactively preparing to continue delivery of instruction through distance learning. The NJDOE has indicated that if we have a plan in place for consistent home instructional services while closed, such days would still count toward our 180-day requirement," WHRHS Superintendent Elizabeth Jewett said.

Jewett said the district will follow up with the details of their distance learning plans and expectations for students.

Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Schools also made a similar announcement. They will close through March 27 and also implement distance learning.

The school closure announcements follow an update on Thursday that a Bridgewater resident was among six new presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus, state officials announced. This would be the first case in Somerset County. (See Related: Bridgewater Man Could Be 1st Somerset County Coronavirus Case)

The six new cases bring the total number of cases statewide to 29 who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in New Jersey as of 2:3o p.m. and health officials say the virus may be "community-spread" in the state. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.