WASHINGTON TWP. — In-person instruction and all athletics at Washington Township High School are paused this week following a 200-student senior-year kick-off party and several confirmed cases of COVID-19 among high school athletes. 

In-person classes and sports are expected to resume Thursday only if the district is satisfied with results of its contact tracing investigation. 

It’s still too soon to know if any students will test positive for the novel coronavirus following an outdoor party Friday in which high schoolers gathered at a park to celebrate the kick-off to their senior year and mourn a classmate who died two days earlier. 

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The event was not sanctioned by the school district. Parents of senior class students organized the kick-off party, according to district officials.

Masks and social distancing protocols were largely not adhered to, according to a letter Superintendent Joseph Bollendorf released Sunday to call off in-person instruction and sports starting Monday.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s latest COVID-19-related order allows outdoor gatherings of up to 500 people, but social distancing must be maintained and masks must be worn. 

Multiple students “have been determined to” continue close contact with others who have tested positive and whose contacts are being traced, the superintendent wrote in Sunday’s letter.

“Now we have a significant concern as to whether or not these students were placed at a risk during this function,” Bollendorf continued.

Bollendorf said it’s his “sincere hope” contact tracing results will allow for the high school to get back on track later this week. 

In a public Facebook post Monday, Andrea Broughton described the event, estimating 211 students participated in the senior kick-off party which also served as a memorial for classmate Dakari Williams, 17, who died Wednesday after a car accident. 

Students released balloons as a tribute to their friend. 

The high school has sanctioned three outdoor dances next month for freshman, sophomores and juniors. These events will be closely monitored with social distancing and facial coverings enforced, according to school board president Julie Kozempel.

In a second letter from the superintendent Monday afternoon, Bollendorf said no group should be vilified for attempting to plan a positive event for district kids. 

“The high school has not been delayed solely because a community kickoff function was held for our seniors,” he wrote.

“…With recent information regarding positive cases in our community, the district had to do its due diligence to make sure that folks who attended the functions were not unknowingly exposed.”

The delay gave school nurses and administrators time to complete contact tracing investigations, Bollendorf said. 

Bollendorf and Kozempel learned of the private event Saturday.

The district – set to transition from all-virtual to a hybrid instruction model today – immediatelty began mulling its public reaction to the private event, Kozempel said. 

The hybrid model was instituted in the district to give parents a choice of how they wanted their kids educated as the pandemic played out, the board president told the Courier Post. 

“(Parents) needed to know what’s going on and we needed to tell them,” Kozempel said. 

“They need to decide, ‘I’m going to keep my child remote today.'”

The district ultimately decided to stall the start of its hybrid model for three days while contact tracing of known positive cases of the virus among athletes went on. The district is investigating whether those with known cases of the virus attended Friday’s party. 

While the high school could reopen Thursday, Hurffville Elementary School in the district will remain closed until Sept. 28. 

Two staff members at Hurffville Elementary and one at Washington Township High School have also tested positive, the district confirmed Monday.

Three high school athletes have tested positive for the virus, the district reported.

The positive cases came a week after sports practices resumed.

Other athletics programs in South Jersey halted practices this week to get a handle on positive tests among students and coaching staff. 

A “large number” of Gloucester Catholic High School students had been advised to quarantine by public health officials, according to a statement from the Gloucester City-based school. In-person instruction and sports will resume Sept. 28. 

Burlington County’s health department advised Lenape High School to suspend its sports program for 14 days after two coaches tested positive on rapid COVID-19 tests. The coaching staff cases are not linked to each other, school officials said.

Carly Q. Romalino is a Gloucester County native who’s covered South Jersey since 2008. She’s a Rowan University graduate and a six-time New Jersey Press Association award winner. 

She is the Courier-Post’s “watch dog,” taking deep dives into matters throughout the region.

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