Baltimore County schools will close Monday and Tuesday to give educators time to create lesson plans for students in the event that individual schools move to virtual instruction during a steep increase in COVID-19 cases and staff vacancies, administrators announced Friday.

The Baltimore Sun reports that after reaching an agreement with the school system’s five labor unions Friday, administrators said curriculum officials have prepared independent learning activities that will be posted on the system’s online learning platform Schoology while schools are closed those two days.

“We understand this is a tremendously uncertain and difficult time for members of Team BCPS,” the announcement from Superintendent Darryl Williams and leaders from the unions said. “We want to assure you that we are all in agreement that closing school buildings is the absolute last resort.”

The agreement comes as school administrators pledged to re-open buildings for the system’s 111,000 students this week following the winter holiday. That pledge was hampered by staffing shortages, the surge in positive COVID-19 cases and quarantining restrictions. The school system was forced to move instruction online for some or all students at 32 schools.

All students except for those whose schools already have moved online are currently scheduled to return to buildings Wednesday for in-person instruction.

(AP)