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The first day of school for Alden-Conger Public School is being postponed as a result of a positive COVID-19 case and close contacts within the school staff. 

Alden-Conger Superintendent Brian Shanks notified parents Thursday night the first day for all students in grades preschool through 12th grade will now be Sept. 13. 

Sixth through 12th-grade students had been slated to start school on Tuesday, while kindergarteners through fifth-grade students were scheduled to start Thursday next week.

“It’s disappointing, but with everything we’ve been dealing with since March of 2020, it’s certainly not unexpected,” Shanks said.

He said with where the close contacts took place, “there was just no way we could provide all the services to our students.” They decided to push back the start of school to give everybody the opportunity to be tested and quarantined if necessary. He noted there was also a possibility of some students being close contacts.

The superintendent said he was concerned seeing what happened at Albert Lea High School after the first week of school with there being 36 positive cases and 290 students on quarantine.

“With what happened at Albert Lea High School, it’s not a surprise we’re also affected,” he said.

The elementary conferences scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday will remain as scheduled but will now be virtual. 

Sports practices and games will also continue as scheduled as the positive case and close contacts were not in direct contact with these students or coaches, Shanks said. 

“We hope to get this all cleared up because we’re ready — we’re ready to have the kids back,” he said. “After last year, we’re hoping to start off as normal as possible — we’ll have to wait until the 13th to do that.”