BATON ROUGE - At least one school in East Baton Rouge Parish will transition to virtual learning due to staff shortages and out of "an abundance of caution," effective Dec. 9.

School officials announced those plans after being notified of positive COVID-19 cases at Villa Del Rey. Following Thanksgiving break, the school system says many of its employees across multiple schools were quarantining for reasons unrelated to the classroom.

Because of these staff shortages and as an extra precaution, the school system decided to transition all students and staff at Villa Del Rey to virtual learning effective Wednesday, Dec. 9.

While students continue learning from home, Villa Del Rey will be closed to the public for deep cleaning.

In addition, McKinley Middle's seventh-grade classes are also under quarantine due to positive COVID tests.

"The district will continue to consult with Health Centers in Schools, LDH and other local officials for additional guidance. As a reminder, EBRPSS school sites will be closed on December 21st - January 1st for Winter Break. Our thoughts are with the impacted students, staff and their families. We understand the challenge that this may pose for some of our families, we appreciate their understanding, compassion and support as our community continues to respond to this pandemic," EBRPSS said in a statement to students' families.