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A Gloucester County high school will again delay the start of in-person classes because of multiple cases of the coronavirus and concerns over a large gathering that students recently attended, officials said Sunday.

In-person hybrid education for high school students at Washington Township Public Schools was slated to begin Monday, but has been postponed until Sept. 24, according to Superintendent Joseph N. Bollendorf. Remote learning will continue and the change only applies to the high school.

Also, all sports programs and other in-person activities at the high school will be suspended until further notice. the letter said.

“District staff have worked exceedingly hard to prepare our schools and to create programs that would permit our students, electing to avail themselves to in-person instruction, to return to our schools on Monday, September 21st; however, there are many variables out of the District’s control that impact our ability to provide in-person instruction,” Bollendorf said in a letter to school community.

Bollendorf said he learned this weekend of a large gathering of high school seniors. The event came to light after the district already reported cases of the coronavirus involving the high school, including sports teams. More information on the gathering was not immediately available.

“Unfortunately, there is much evidence to show that neither social distancing nor face coverings were in place. We have multiple students that have been determined to be close contacts of the COVID-19 cases we are currently tracing, and now have a significant concern as to whether or not students were placed at risk during this function,” Bollendorf said in the letter.

“My number one responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of our students and our staff. We are currently working closely with our health department to begin the arduous process of adding this event to our responsibilities related to the contact tracing of known COVID-19 cases and potential additional positive cases. This will take some time,” he added.

Last week, school officials reported three staff members – two employees at Hurffville Elementary who work in separate parts of the building and a staffer at Washington Township High School tested positive for COVID-19 – prompting officials to temporarily switch to all-remote learning.

Washington Township was among at least six districts that have announced schedule changes just days into the academic year in response to cases of the contagious pathogen among staff and students.

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.