Parents in Robbinsville are upset as the high school temporarily shifts back to virtual learning due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

A few dozen parents gathered in front of the high school Wednesday morning with signs in hand addressing the temporary shift to virtual learning.

“Our ultimate goal is safety for all but keep our kids in school as much as possible,” says parent Danielle Desimone.

The district says it worked with the Health Department and state, and that it made the decision to go virtual for a week to slow the spread as cases rise in town and with unrelated clusters of cases in the high school.

“We cannot keep shutting the school down on a Friday afternoon,” says parent Louise Shea. “You know I understand there's a lot of things that work here but another focus of ours is that there's no more unilateral decisions being made. There needs to be more checks and balances in how their decision making process is done.”

Gov. Phil Murphy says that the start of the new school year has so far been about what the state expected, and his administration will continue to work alongside districts as the year goes on.

Like Robbinsville, many districts have had to make the temporary switch back to virtual learning. Murphy spoke about the situation Tuesday on News 12’s Ask Governor Murphy.

There are a couple hundred students who quarantined and a few dozen confirmed positive cases from the district. The numbers are from Friday, so they are likely higher.

The shift to virtual learning is temporary. As long as students don't test positive, they'll be back Monday.