List: Twin Cities school districts temporarily suspend in-person learning amid rising COVID cases

Several school districts around the Twin Cities metro have had to temporarily suspend in-person learning in recent weeks as COVID-19 continues to keep students and staff out of the classroom.

Many districts are trying to keep kids in the classroom, saying it is a better learning environment. However, families are being told to prepare for last minute changes with the omicron surge expected to continue through the end of the month.

Brooklyn Center Community Schools 

The Brooklyn Center school district is temporarily shifting to online learning this week due to rising COVID infections in the district. Brooklyn Center Middle and High School moved to online learning on Monday. All other schools in the district will move to online learning starting Wednesday. 

The school district is planning for students to return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 31.  

Burnsville-Eagan-Savage / District 191 

The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district said around 20% of the students enrolled in the district were absent on Monday and 70 teachers were out the following day. 

The school district is temporarily shifting to distance learning on Thursday and Friday. District officials expect to resume in-person learning on Tuesday, Jan. 18. 

Farmington Area Public Schools

The Farmington school district is switching to "flexible learning" for the rest of the week due to significant staff and student absences for COVID. With flexible learning, students do not report to school in person and do their assignments online. 

Grades 6-12 start flexible learning on Wednesday, while all grades will be in flexible learning on Thursday and Friday. The district does not have school on Monday, Jan. 17 or Tuesday, Jan. 18. They expect to return to in person learning on Wednesday, Jan. 19. 

Fridley Public Schools 

The Fridley school district made the switch to "blended learning," which officials say means learning from home, on Monday due to a rise in COVID cases among staff, bus drivers and students. 

The district said it will continue to monitor and reevaluate when in-person learning can resume.

Minneapolis Public Schools

Minneapolis public schools are temporarily moving to online learning starting Friday, Jan. 14 through Thursday, Jan. 27. There is no shool on Friday, Jan. 28, so students will resume in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 31. 

Minnetonka Public Schools

Minnetonka middle schools will move to e-learning Friday, Jan. 14 through Friday, Jan.  21. 

For high school, Friday, Jan. 14 and Tuesday, Jan, 18 will be synchronous e-learning days, following the regular six-period high school schedule Jan. 18-21.

Elementary schools will continue with in-person learning, but will have no school on Friday, Jan. 21.

North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale ISD 622

Two high schools in the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale school district have temporarily shifted to remote learning due to a high number of staff and student absences for COVID-19. 

Tartan High School in Oakdale and John Glenn Middle School in Maplewood are temporarily shifting to remote learning from Monday, Jan. 10 through Friday, Jan. 14. Students will return to school in person on Tuesday, Jan. 18. 

North High School in North St. Paul shifted to remote learning on Friday, Jan. 7 and will continue through Friday, Jan. 14. In-person learning will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 18. 

Osseo Area Schools

The Osseo school district is switching to distance learning for two weeks after the district said it was down at least 25% of its staff due to COVID.

Starting Tuesday, middle and high school students will make the shift to online learning. Elementary school students will begin online learning on Wednesday.

Students will return to in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 24.

In a letter to parents, Superintendent Cory McIntyre said, "This news is understandably challenging for families and not one our district was hoping to make."  

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools

The Prior Lake school district has been hit hard by COVID. The district said over 12% of its staff was absent on Monday, several classrooms have moved to distance learning due to high COVID case rates and several buildings are nearing 5% student absences due to the virus.

The district said there will be no school on Wednesday to allow teachers to plan for distance learning. Distance learning will begin on Thursday and is expected to continue through Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The district said it will let students and families know by noon on Jan. 18 whether distance learning will continue or whether students will return in person.

Richfield Public Schools

Effective Wednesday the district will be transitioning to distance learning due to staff absences and vacant positions in critical areas, including operations and instructional staff. According to the district it has reached a point where it needs to temporarily shift to distance learning. For the remainder of this week, January 12-14, all students will be learning remotely.

Robbinsdale Area Schools

The Robbinsdale school district moved two of its schools to distance learning last week due to positive COVID cases among students and staff.

Armstrong High School and Sandburg Middle School started online learning last Thursday. Both schools are scheduled to return to in-person learning on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

Roseville Area Schools 

The Roseville school district canceled classes on Friday, Jan. 14 because of staffing shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The district said schools have had as much as 35% of their staff members absent daily and a shortage of substitute teachers, presenting operational challenges for in-person learning. 

Shakopee Public Schools 

The Shakopee school district canceled classes for all students on Friday, Jan. 14. It was originally scheduled to be a two-hour release day for grades K-12. The school district is planning to continue in-person learning next week, but said "the chances that parts of the district may move to temporary distance learning continue to grow more likely." 

Let us know of any other schools temporarily switching to distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Email us at fox9news@fox.com or send us a direct message on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter