MERRIMACK – On a growing list of coronavirus updates, SAU 26 – the Merrimack School District – announced late Monday that schools will be closed next week.

Earlier Friday, several surrounding districts canceled classes for next week, including Nashua, Hudson, Hollis-Brookline and Bedford. Bishop Guertin High School also has called off school.

In a series of announcements posted on the district’s website on Friday, Superintendent Mark McLaughin said his concerns is for the district not only as an administrator, but as a parent.

“This decision does not come lightly,” wrote McLaughlin. “I am acutely aware of the importance of school in the lives of so many people in our community. For students, the many services our schools provide, in addition to the underappreciated benefits of routine and the security that comes with that, this may well be a very difficult time. For families, I am acutely aware of child-care challenges this will present and other implications of this decision, and recognize the hardship this places on many of you.”

There is currently no concrete plan for continuing education on this leave, however, McLaughlin and the district leadership team are, “Working to make preparations for online remote learning.”

In an earlier announcement, McLaughlin cited the state Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Center for Disease Control when informing community members of the district of the potential reasons that could result in a closure.

“According to the DHHS, there are six positive cases of COVID-19 in New Hampshire … none of those cases are the result of community transmission.”

While there are no reported cases of COVID-19 among students, teachers or other staff in the SAU 26 district, McLaughin made note to announce that a Merrimack High School teacher made “casual contact” in attending an event with a Massachusetts teacher that “has a parent with a confirmed case of COVID-19.”

Both the Massachusetts and Merrimack teachers remain symptom free; however, “As soon as we learned of this casual contact, and out of an abundance of caution, we asked the teacher to remain home until further notice. … Both the CDC and the New Hampshire DHHS have classified such interactions as extremely low incidence for transmission,” McLaughlin wrote.

Additionally, an MHS staff member and an MHS-contracted service provider who traveled to a CDC Level 3 country on February break both remain symptom free, but were asked by the district to self-quarantine as of last week until next Thursday, March 19, per CDC instruction.

“As educators, we have two responsibilities: to keep our students safe while educating them to the best of our ability,” McLaughlin wrote.

For more information regarding the closure in the Merrimack School District, visit https://www.sau26.org, email Mark McLaughlin at mark.mclaughlin@sau26.org or call the SAU 26 central office at 603-424-6200.

——

EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our community during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Telegraph at https://home.nashuatelegraph.com/clickshare/checkDelivery.do;jsessionid=40C089D96583CD7318C1C1D9317B6162.