In a letter issued to families Tuesday, administrators at White Pigeon Junior/Senior High School announced that two individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 at the school. According to the letter, those two individuals were last in the school building on October 5. After communicating and coordinating with the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency (BHSJ), administrators decided to close the school building to in-person learning, instead commencing with all virtual learning starting on Wednesday, October 14. In-person learning is scheduled to resume on October 26.

Although BHSJ permitted the schools to continue with athletics, opponents’ teams have elected not to participate in sporting with White Pigeon. Therefore, all middle and high school athletic contests involving White Pigeon students have been cancelled through the rest of this week. They will resume on October 19.

According to the letter, Central Elementary is not impacted by the situation, and will continue in person learning. Persons having any questions on the situation can contact White Pigeon Community Schools Associate Superintendent Carrie Erlandson or Superintendent Jon Keyer.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.