A Massachusetts couple and their teenage child are facing charges after they hosted a party that led to the local high school delaying in-person learning over Covid-19 concerns.
Ten minste 50 high school students attended a party hosted in the basement of a private residence in Sudbury, Massachusetts, on Friday evening — with complete disregard for social distancing and mask guidelines, according to the Sudbury Police Department.
Because of the party, in-person learning at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School High School has been delayed, the town’s board of health announced.
“There are no known positive COVID cases involving these students at the time of this release. Due to lack of information of who attended the event and the inability to consult directly with those students, the risk to the school community cannot be adequately assessed,” the Sudbury Board of Health said in a news release.
The health board said that police notified the board that the party involved approximately 50-60 Lincoln-Sudbury students. It is unknown if students from other towns attended and many of the students fled or gave false information to police, according to the health board.
CNN has reached out to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School for comment but has not heard back. The board of health and the school are both advising anyone who attended the party to receive a Covid test, according to the health board’s statement
The parents and their child have not been identified because they were not arrested and the incident is still under investigation, said Jordan Mayblum, a spokesman for the Sudbury Police Department.
They are charged under the Massachusetts social host law, which states that “anyone ‘who is in control of the premises and who furnishes alcohol or allows it to be consumed on those premises’ constitutes as a social host and may face fines, imprisonment or both,” police said in a news release.
Police Chief Scott Nix said in the release that police are encouraging residents “to refrain from making any more volatile statements on social media regarding this incident as we are holding those responsible for providing the venue accountable.”
The Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office told CNN an arraignment has not yet been scheduled for the parents and the teen.
Police said in a statement that when they arrived, officers observed “numerous individuals fleeing the scene” and alcoholic beverage containers strewn in the back yard.
“Numerous juveniles and open containers were found throughout the home as well, including the basement, where a large group of youths who were allegedly disregarding state mandated social distancing and face covering protocols had been gathering,” according to the police statement. “Several party attendees also made threatening comments towards the responding officers.”
Sudbury has seen a total of 218 reported positive cases of Covid-19, met meer as 125,000 bevestig cases in the state.
