AGAWAM – Students of Agawam Public Schools will participate in remote learning through Jan. 15.

This announcement comes after the district’s original decision on Jan. 5 to pivot back to the hybrid formula on Jan. 11.

In the 48 hours prior to students returning on the Monday after the holiday break, the district reported that COVID-19 cases within the school system had gone from nine to 20. Based on this data, the district decided that it was best to pivot back to full-time remote learning.

According to Sheila Hoffman, superintendent of Agawam Public Schools, the original data on New Year’s Day suggested that students could safely return to the hybrid formula on Jan. 4. According to Hoffman, this original plan was agreed upon by the teachers’ union and the health director. Since cases more than doubled two days later though, the group reconsidered their decision.

“To be honest, our goal is to get kids in schools, in buildings,” said Hoffman. “So instead of doing all of this predetermined time, we would rather make decisions on the current moment with the most current data.”

Hoffman said that the district looks at COVID-19 cases on a daily basis, and will continue to do so during the second part of the school year.

“After much discussion, it was probably best to back in person because of all the safety protocols we have in place,” said Hoffman, with regards to their original plan on New Year’s Day. “But then with the new data, we kind of reconsidered that.”

When remote, families can continue to pick up meals for students at the Agawam Junior High School and Roberta Doering Middle School. The dates of these pickups are posted and updated on the Agawam Public Schools Facebook page.