A rumored 50 to 60 students from Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School (LS), and potentially other towns, gathered for a party on Saturday, Sept. 12. Little did the students know at the time, their actions would end up delaying the start of their in-person learning this school year.

After shutting down the party, the Sudbury police department informed the Sudbury Board of Health of the gathering. They decided, in the interest of student safety, to require LS to start remotely. This was due to concerns of spreading the coronavirus.

“Due to lack of information of who attended the event and the inability to consult directly with those students, the risk to the school community cannot be adequately assessed,” Sudbury Board of Health members said in a press release. “As a result, the Board of Health and Lincoln Sudbury Regional School High School, in consultation with the school physician, collectively decided to delay in-person learning.”

Opinions on the board’s decision seem to be split. Many are okay with starting online and agree with the decision made, or at least understand why they are returning to school remotely. Others disagree, thinking the lack of positive tests after the party means it is safe enough to return to the classroom, at least in a hybrid model.

“I know a lot of parents and some kids are still very upset that we couldn’t go back even hybrid,” LS sophomore and student athlete Jackson Cain said. “[People] are also angry [because] there were no positive COVID-19 tests after the party.”

The students involved in the gathering are largely thought of to be seniors. Some people in the community are upset by the student’s choice to throw a party because of the risk of spreading COVID-19. However, others don’t entirely blame the party goers.

“I get that they are seniors, and that they are going to do some [stupid] things,” Cain said. “They just want to see each other and have fun.”

Wayland students gave their opinions on the situation as well. They are trying to see the situation from an LS student’s perspective by imagining if the same thing had happened at WHS.

“If the same thing happened here in Wayland, I would be really annoyed,” sophomore Billy Burke said. “I would’ve wanted to go back to school and see my friends.”

Aside from academics, extracurricular activities offered by the school were also affected by the situation. All fall sports were pushed back to Sept. 29. While student athletes are happy to still have a season to look forward to, they aren’t so pleased about the delay.

“Many people are really disappointed that they [are losing about] one eighth of their season, especially the senior [athletes],” Cain said.

As per orders from the Sudbury Board of Health, LS is doing remote learning. This switch was very last minute, so students’ expectations were not high. However, it has been running relatively smoothly.

“Online school is surprisingly clean, running well and on time, which I didn’t expect from a [mess] like this,” Cain said. “Lincoln Sudbury gave me my schedule [just] two days before school started.”