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BPS closed Tuesday for extreme cold weather

Boston Public Schools will be closed Tuesday because of the extreme cold headed for the region.

According to the National Weather Service, wind chill temperatures are expected to fall below zero across southern New England.

Mayor Michelle Wu said the closure is purely weather related, and that she doesn't anticipate any COVID-related districtwide closures. Wu noted that the last time BPS closed over cold temperatures was in 2015.

The announcement comes amid hundreds of positive cases among school staff members, causing shortages.

"Closures are truly a last resort," she said. "We do know that COVID positivity has been very much impacting our workforce and our educators and school staff, and so we'll continue to monitor the situation school by school."

As of Monday, there were 1,202 staff absences, including 640 teachers and 343 paraprofessionals, according to the district. On Thursday alone, the district said there were 466 new COVID cases reported, including 373 students and 93 teachers. On Friday, schools were closed for a snow day.

The city said Boston's overall current COVID test positivity rate is 32%.

With reporting from WBUR's Laney Ruckstuhl and Jack Mitchell 

This article was originally published on January 10, 2022.

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