As winter break winds down, many districts in the area, such as Tri-Creek School Corp., are looking at a week of online learning beginning Jan. 4, before returning to the classroom Jan. 11.

Tri-Creek has had 15 positive COVID-19 cases reported since Dec. 20, as students and staff members were instructed to report positive cases to principals even over break.

“After the Christmas break, to provide a period of time for COVID symptoms to emerge after families gather during the holidays, students will return to in-person learning on Monday, January 11, instead of January 4,” a message from Superintendent Rod Gardin reads.

High school Virtual Academy students receiving on-site help will continue to attend on-site sessions, according to the message.

The School Town of Highland, too, will be online until Jan. 11, and as of data updated Dec. 25, the district has seen one student and one staff member with positive COVID-19 test results and five students are currently quarantined.

Duneland School Corp. currently has 11 active COVID-19 cases, and at least four individuals have been identified as close contacts, and nine individuals throughout Valparaiso Community Schools have also reported positive results, according to the district’s website. Portage Township Schools has 13 active cases and two active quarantines, according to its website.

As students and teachers continue with winter break, and many districts will continue remote learning after the break, COVID counts across the state have gone down, too. According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s school dashboard, 390 new student positive cases, 98 new teacher positive cases and 103 new staff positive cases have been reported across the state.

Currently, there are 18,849 total student cases, 3,896 total teacher cases and 4,713 total staff cases, according to the dashboard.

Hannah Reed is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.