Long Valley Middle School students are back in the building after students and staff had to quarantine, as the state reports its highest infection rate in schools since it started making its reports public in September.

The news comes as New Jersey reports more positive COVID-19 cases among students and teachers, just a short time after the vaccine became widely available to children.

The state reported last week more than 3,000 positive cases in students across the state, with over 850 among teachers.

The Paterson School District, one of the largest in the state, says it's also been seeing an uptick in cases among its schools over the past two weeks with holidays and days off, but it's been proactive in hiring contact tracers, partnering up with local hospitals, and having sick rooms at each of its schools.

"We have done everything we possibly can, and we continue to monitor all of our test. and I think that's why we don't have a lot of break in a particular school because we have all those layers of protection and I do believe the air purifiers or doing exactly what they need to do," says Superintendent Eileen Shaffer.

Shafer also says she'll soon send a reminder to parents ahead of the holiday break not to send their children to school if they're not feeling well and to have them quarantine if there's a positive case in their household.