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Sports and extracurricular activities at the Verona School District will resume earlier than expected after an investigation into a large gathering of students off school grounds concluded.

The district became aware of the party on Sunday and immediately made the decision to suspend the activities for 14 days after a person at the gathering, where students did not wear masks or socially distance, was suspected of having COVID-19, Verona superintendent Rui Dionisio said in a letter to the school community.

However, in an updated letter written Wednesday, the superintendent said the investigation by the Montclair Department of Health, which oversees Verona, had ended and determined that sports and extracurricular activities could resume Thursday.

“The Verona Public School District will continue to work with the Montclair Department of Health and follow their guidance regarding these important public health decisions,” Dionisio said. “Each report of a positive case or suspected positive case is taken seriously and warrants a timely investigation.”

No details about the investigation or its findings were shared by Dionisio who described them as “confidential” in his letter.

The superintendent asked students who attended the gathering to monitor themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 and to follow social distancing guidelines “so that future concerns can be avoided.”

“Our ability to reopen schools rests on the decisions that the members of our community make in the coming weeks and months,” Dionisio wrote. “We need the support of the entire community to keep our schools open.”

The district began the year with a combination of remote learning and in-person instruction.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.