Parents And Teen Charged Over Party Which Forced High School Into Remote Learning

Two parents and their high school-aged child have been charged after a party they held forced a Massachusetts school to switch to remote learning.

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, located about 23 miles west of Boston, will start the school year remotely on Tuesday after up to 60 students partied maskless together in violation of social distancing rules earlier this month.

Police were called to the party at a private residence in Sudbury about 10 p.m. on Friday, September 11, where they found "a minimum of 50 underage youths".

"Upon arrival, officers observed numerous individuals fleeing the scene as well as numerous alcoholic beverage containers and beer cans strewn about the backyard," Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix told Newsweek.

Nix said the large group of youths were allegedly "disregarding state mandated social distancing and face covering protocols" and several party attendees "made threatening comments towards the responding officers".

The following day Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School principal Bella Wong told families she was "profoundly disappointed" that the school would have to shift to full remote learning.

Wong said the "crowded indoor and outdoor party" involved alcohol and a "complete lack of safety precautions to protect against the spread of COVID", CBS Boston reports.

The principal and Superintendent of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District said about 15 students ran into the woods when police arrived on the scene.

Officers collected the names of 32 other people but thirteen of those names turned out to be made up, she said.

The 28 people who were unaccounted for meant the school was unable to identify who to isolate, giving officials no choice but to offer classes remotely.

"If these students had been identified they could be requested to be isolated from school, monitored and tested," Wong wrote in a letter addressed to parents.

"I agree completely with the Board of Health that this is the most prudent course of action to take given what has taken place," the letter continued as reported by MassLive.

"After the intensity of hard work and planning that has been done to be able to start school with students in-person we are profoundly disappointed at this sudden change of plans. I know you must be as disappointed."

The school had originally intended to operate a hybrid model with some students attending for some of the time before rotating with other groups but has now switched to full remote learning until at least September 29.

Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix said that the parents involved as being responsible for the party have been charged in Framingham District Court with providing alcohol to minors and violating Massachusetts Social Host Law.

Under the state law anyone "who is in control of the premises and who furnishes alcohol or allows it to be consumed on those premises" constitutes as a social host and may face fines, imprisonment or both.

Their child was charged in Framingham Juvenile Court.

All three have so far been unidentified

Those who violate the state's social distancing and gathering laws are liable to pay a $500 fine.

The Sudbury Board of Health is also requesting anyone who went to the party to be tested for COVID-19 and to notify both the Health Department and the school district if students begin to show symptoms of coronavirus.