At least three Portland schools announced closures Friday due to staffing shortages and student absences as another surge of COVID-19 infections took hold.

On Thursday, Parkrose School District announced Prescott Elementary would close Friday, citing “excessive staff and student absences and not enough substitutes available.”

In a Jan. 3 message to families from Parkrose Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao, Serrao warned of likely staffing shortages due to illness and absences.

“Due to the rapid rate of infections, we anticipate that Parkrose staffing and support will be impacted,” Serrao stated, noting an uptick in student cases during the weeks prior.

“However, in an emergency situation where we cannot safely provide service to students, we may have to announce an emergency closure due to the spread of the virus. We will only do this as a last resort, but please be prepared this winter for announcements regarding the status of COVID-19 in our community.”

Hours after that announcement, Portland Public Schools announced Leodis V. McDaniel and Cleveland high schools would also close Friday and temporarily transition to distance learning starting Monday, Jan. 10, until at least Friday, Jan. 14.

Portland schools cited “a significant increase in the number of COVID-related absences for both students and staff.”

“After closely monitoring the data over the past few days, the district is seeing a significant increase in the number of COVID-related absences for both students and staff,” Margaret Calvert, regional superintendent of secondary schools, said in an announcement Thursday. “The number of unfilled positions across the district has grown this week and the numbers for tomorrow are dramatically higher this evening than they have been the past few nights. Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close Cleveland and McDaniel High School campuses, where staff absences are greatest.”

Extracurricular activities, including athletics, have been postponed for both high schools.

On Monday, the Oregon Department of Education warned that rapid transmission of COVID-19 was likely to occur in schools, and suggested that all Oregon schools pause extracurricular activities or double down on safety measures like masking, distancing and encouraging vaccinations.

Most schools opted not to implement any changes.

By Thursday, Portland schools reported 1,244 students were isolated or quarantined due to COVID-19 and 739 of those students were isolated with COVID. On the same day, 231 staff members were isolated or in quarantine.