ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - All West Orange High School students and staff will shift to LaunchED@home virtual learning beginning Monday, September 21, after 10 positive cases of COVID-19 were reported at the school and confirmed by the Florida Department of Health, Orange County officials said.

The campus will close and all extracurricular activities are canceled for two weeks, until October 5 after 159 students and staff have been identified as having direct contact with at least 10 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19.

The first case was discovered September 14, school officials said. Two additional cases also are pending, health officials said.

The moves are being made out of abundance of caution to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with the health and safety of students and staff considered the top priority, OCPS officials said. 

While West Orange High is closed, the entire campus will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

The 159 people affected will receive letters from the Florida Department of Health, instructing them to quarantine for two weeks. The FDOH also will provide specific information to the families directly impacted.

LaunchED@Home is the same educational model that was used by all at the beginning of the school year in order to prepare for a situation such as this, and what the majority of West Orange High students and teachers are already using.

In addition, the Department of Health will be offer free drive-thru COVID-19 testing in the parking lot of West Orange High School through a mobile testing unit.

Priority will be given to those in quarantine. The school will provide more details as they become available. The drive-thru testing is exclusively for West Orange High School students and staff members who have been on campus and need to be tested.

Due to the closure, West Orange will not distribute meals during those two week. Breakfast and lunch will be available for pickup at any other Orange County public school on Monday.