BATON ROUGE - An East Baton Rouge elementary school was shut down Friday, less than a week after its first day of classes, out of "an abundance of caution" due to several COVID cases on campus.

Wedgewood Elementary was closed Friday and will continue with online learning for the day, according to a statement released early Friday morning by the school system. 

The impacted classrooms will be deep-cleaned, the school system said, and learning will continue in person on Monday. 

The elementary school had its first day of classes this past Monday, August 8. 

Read the school system's full statement below:

Yesterday morning, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System was notified of several positive COVID-19 cases at Wedgewood Elementary. The staff immediately began implementing contact tracing protocols provided by health officials, and staff and students who have come into close contact with the impacted individual(s) were being notified.  

Out of an abundance of caution, the district has made the difficult decision to transition the students at Wedgewood Elementary to remote learning effective today, August 12, 2022. The students not identified as close contacts will return to in-person learning on Monday, August 15, 2022.  

During this period of remote learning, the impacted classrooms will be closed for deep cleaning and students will receive instruction through Google Classroom. The district will continue to consult with our Health Advisors, the Louisiana Department of Health, and other local officials for additional guidance. Our thoughts are with the impacted students, staff, and their families. 

We understand the challenge that this may pose for some of our families, we appreciate your understanding, compassion and support as our community continues to respond to this pandemic.