Several school districts have delayed hybrid learning, as the community passes through Thanksgiving and approaches winter holidays marked by large gatherings and the threat of COVID-19.

The Laurel School District will move to full remote learning for all students, pre-K through grade 12, until Jan. 11.

The district had already closed in mid-November after several positive COVID-19 cases, but anticipated reopening after the Thanksgiving break. Last week, the district announced that would not be the case.

“As all decisions during this pandemic, this one was not made lightly,” Superintendent Shawn Larrimore said in a message to the district’s website. “Great thought and considerations were put into it. But, as always, The Laurel School District must continue to keep safety and stability at the forefront of our decision-making throughout this crisis.”

Delmar School District, which incorporates both Maryland and Delaware communities, also will delay a full return to hybrid learning until the new year.

Students in grades five to 12 will begin the week of Jan. 11.

The current small group of students participating in hybrid will continue “as normal, on their current schedule,” according to a message on the school’s website.

The decision follows what the school board of Wicomico County, Maryland, determined in mid-November for the district’s younger learners.

Capital’s school board also voted last week that it would delay in-person learning for students in grades five through 12 until the new year. Hybrid learning is scheduled to continue for students in pre-K through fourth grade (who returned to in-person instruction in early November).

Meanwhile, other districts are charging ahead. Milford School District, which closed three of its schools in response to COVID-19 positives for at least one day earlier this month, brought its high school students back for hybrid learning for the first time Monday. The high school was originally scheduled to start Nov. 16.