A Massachusetts high school will temporarily go virtual after some students violated Covid-19 protocols and attended a New Year’s Eve party

A high school has switched fully to virtual learning after a group of Massachusetts students held a New Year’s Eve party and one person in attendance later tested positive for Covid-19, officials said.

Students at Groton-Dunstable Regional High School in Groton will learn remotely until Monday, after officials learned of the gathering, which violated the state’s limit on indoor gatherings.

One student who attended the event subsequently tested positive to Covid-19, school officials confirmed to CNN. Massachusetts currently limits indoor gatherings to 10 individuals, and though CNN could not confirm how many students were in attendance, officials said there were more than 10.

Because officials learned about the party on Sunday evening, Dr. Laura Chesson, superintendent of the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, said closing the school for the week was the only option, so their team could do the contact tracing necessary to quarantine any students who attended or had close contact with those who did.

In a letter to parents informing them of the gathering and the switch to remote learning, Chesson said the school had no choice.

“I am aware that it seems unfair for all students to be negatively affected by the actions of a small number of students, but given we do not know which students were in attendance and which were not, we must take action to protect them all,” she wrote.

“Everyone is being very cooperative,” Chesson told CNN separately. “Every student that attended the gathering, they and their parents have been contacted.”

The district has been diligent about following Covid-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chesson said, making this violation disappointing. Among the other cases they’ve identified this school year, there’s no evidence that spread at school was a factor, she said.

Principal Michael Woodlock said the school has been doing a hybrid learning model, which he expects to return to on Monday, minus the students asked to quarantine.

This isn’t the first time this kind of violation has happened in the state. In September, at least 50 high school students attended a party hosted in the basement of a private residence in Sudbury, with no regard for social distancing or masks, local police said. The local high school delayed in-person as a result, and the parents and their child were facing charges.

Groton is about 30 miles northwest of Boston.