Fans watch as the Bend High School basketball team plays against Grants Pass at Bend on Friday.

Central Oregon educators are not planning major changes in the way they will cope with the omicron variant as the highly transmissible strain of the coronavirus tightens its grip on the region.

But with classes set to resume Monday after the holiday break, there is concern that infections could sweep through the teacher ranks and put a strain on the availability of substitute teachers.

“I don’t expect to see any additional things put in place unless the county or state asks us to do those things,” said Sheila Miller, a spokesperson for the Redmond School District.

Added Julianne Repman, director of safety and communication for the Bend-La Pine school district: “We’re keeping a close eye on how things are growing and increasing.”

State health officials reported 387 new cases Wednesday in Central Oregon. Most were in Deschutes County, which reported the second-highest daily COVID-19 case count among Oregon’s 36 counties: 326 new confirmed and presumptive infections, according to the Oregon Health Authority. That tops Washington County, which has nearly 404,000 more people, according to the 2019 U.S. Census.

Over the past week, Deschutes County reported more cases per capita than any other county in Oregon, according to OHA.

Many school district officials are either just returning from winter vacation or are still out of town, multiple spokespersons said, meaning discussions are only just beginning about what schools will do as infections ramp up yet again.

“Because omicron has come in while we’re on break, it’s hard to tell how it will affect our schools,” said Jason Carr, a Crook County School District spokesperson.

Several officials said districts are awaiting guidance from the Oregon Department of Education before they make any adjustments before students return.

“With school being on Monday, I’d be surprised if there was any” change in plans, said Joey Prechtl, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County School District.

The school districts — Jefferson, Crook, Redmond and Bend-La Pine — said they are confident in the current policies for masking, distancing and contact tracing. But spokespersons at each said the school districts will remain flexible as the variant looms larger and drives infections sky-high.

“It’s time for us and our partners in the community to double down and do what we can to prevent the spread,” Repman said.

Meanwhile, as the new variant causes more breakthrough cases, multiple officials said they are concerned about how a shortage of substitute teachers could be felt if teachers fall ill. Repman extended those concerns to bus drivers, which she said are also in short supply amid the national labor shortage.

Prechtl pointed to recent infections among airline crews nationwide, which contributed to widespread flight cancellations in the past week, as an example of how omicron is already impacting daily life.

As students and teachers gather for New Year’s and return from holiday travels to Central Oregon, district officials are urging people to get tested and vaccinated and to limit gatherings.

At least two of the school districts said they will enforce a “test to stay” option, which allows unvaccinated students quarantining due to a COVID-19 exposure to attend school and extracurricular activities in person as long as they test negative.

Multiple schools are leaning on previous precautions. For Bend-La Pine, schools will continue having individual assemblies spread throughout the day for individual grade levels to keep gatherings small and mitigate possible spread.

The district also made adjustments to a local basketball tournament this week, using multiple gyms to keep gatherings minimal.

Dave Williams, athletic director of Bend-La Pine and Caldera High School, said the district sports plan to follow the same guidelines that are already in place.

“Nothing has changed,” Williams said. “We are just trying to mitigate the best that we can. We want to keep things as normal as we can for our kids and parents.”

Karen Caylor, the mother of a Summit High senior boys basketball player, said she believes the district should “continue following the science.” She referred to recent findings indicating that omicron appears to be less severe than previous coronavirus variants and Oregon’s high vaccination rate as reasons why sports should continue as usual.

“With those two things coupled together, I don’t think there is a reason for these kids to have to stop going to school or should have to stop playing,” she said. “My goal is to do what it takes to get through their year and they have the enjoyment of participation because the opposite of that is going to be more dangerous if they aren’t involved.”