More county schools, including the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, are closing one or all of their buildings this week due to COVID-19.

Moniteau School District has moved completely to remote instruction; Mars Area and Karns City Area school districts closed their high schools; and Butler County Vo-Tech is closing — all temporarily and for different amounts of time.

In a message to parents, Moniteau Superintendent Tom Samosky said the number of positive COVID-19 cases of staff and students had “risen significantly” at both its elementary and junior/senior high school. Moniteau had reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case of the year Friday.

“By late Sunday, it became apparent, at the consultation of the (Pennsylvania) Department of Health, that we needed to close for several days,” said Samosky in an interview Monday.

All Moniteau students began remote learning Monday. Samosky will review the latest data on community spread Friday and make a call on whether in-person instruction will return or remote learning will continue for the next week.

The change will likely affect the students who attended in-person classes the most, while the alternative cyber-option will continue its courses as usual. Athletics will continue with COVID-19 measures in place, and Moniteau students attending the county vo-tech school will operate under the technical school's direction.

“Be assured that we remain committed to the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff members as well as providing the support necessary to facilitate this temporary situation,” said Samosky in his message to parents.

Mars Area School District closed its high school building through Friday, according to a notification posted on the district website Monday.The BCAVTS reported two more COVID cases Monday, and said the school will close beginning Tuesday until Nov. 12. Remote instruction will be used until classes resume on that day.The two new cases raise the total at BCAVTS to six.The decision to close the school comes five days after the district announced a high school student tested positive for COVID-19.In addition to that case, the Department of Health recently identified two other positive cases in the high school, making three active cases.In response to the new cases, the school's closure will give staff time to perform a deep cleaning. Students who have been attending class in person will need to shift to a livestream interactive format.With Monday being a scheduled in-service day, Mars high school students are scheduled to return to the building Nov. 10.All other district schools will be open and operating on schedule. Parent conferences at the high school will be held as planned Monday, and all sporting events will continue as scheduled. The SAT test scheduled Saturday also will be held as planned.

In a message to parents, Karns City Superintendent Eric Ritzert announced the closure of his district's high school due to two new positive COVID-19 cases. One person tested positive last week too.The closure will begin Tuesday and last until at least Friday. Students are scheduled to return Monday.“Administration will assess the situation between now and Friday to determine whether the closure should be extended,” said Ritzert in his message.Like Mars, Karns City's other schools will remain open, but Ritzert asked parents to be prepared if the evaluation determines those schools also need to be closed.Karns City Area High School students can pick up meals at the concession stand windows outside the cafeteria between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.In Ritzert's message, which was the latest message sent Monday, he noted that Butler vo-tech students were also learning remotely starting Tuesday.“At this point, vo-tech students will report to vo-tech on Nov. 12 for in-person instruction,” the message said.

Other districts have had to close schools or move to remote learning since August.Butler Area and Allegheny-Clarion Valley school districts both moved all or some of its students to remote learning last week.A-C Valley's remote learning continues district-wide this week with plans to continue distance learning through Nov. 13, according to an update Monday. The district reported it has seven positive tests, three waiting on results and 60 people in quarantine. A free breakfast and lunch program will start Wednesday to help families in need.Seneca Valley School District announced last week the closure of the Ryan Gloyer Middle School, which had three active cases among students and five active cases of staff. The students are learning remotely and slated to return to the school Nov. 11.Butler's grades seven through 12 will continue remote learning with a weekly re-evaluation similar to Moniteau's.