Mars Area School District announced online Tuesday that the high school building will be closed to students through Dec. 1.

The high school was closed to students last week after district administration was informed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) that three high school students recently tested positive for COVID-19.

The closure allowed the district to conduct deep cleaning in the high school.

The DOH informed the district this week that a fourth high school student has tested positive. There are now four active cases in the high school that have arisen in the past 14 days.

Students returned to the building Tuesday following last week's closure. The decision to close the school for the rest of the month went into effect at the end of the school day.

There are 95 high school students in quarantine based on DOH recommendations and 32 students in quarantine from Centennial School, according to superintendent Mark Gross.

The district anticipates opening the high school to students Dec. 2, if county transmission rates remain stable.

“If there is a continued number of students testing positive, the remote learning at the high school may be extended,” Gross said in an email to the Eagle. “That decision will be made based upon the data closer to the tentative return date.”

High school students who were attending class in person will be asked to shift to livestream interactive (LSI) instruction starting Wednesday.

Staff will not be permitted in the high school Wednesday and Thursday due to cleaning. Teachers will work from home during that time. They will be permitted to return to the building Friday to conduct LSI teaching.

The closure is restricted to the high school at this time. All other district school buildings will remain open and operate on schedule.

Any scheduled sports and other activities in the building will resume Friday, although students won't be returning until December.

Once the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School returns to in-person learning, a bus will leave the high school at 12:20 p.m. for students who aren't in quarantine. Students are asked to find their own transportation to the high school for the vo-tech bus.