SOUTH DEERFIELD — Two schools in the Frontier and Union 38 regional school districts opted for a remote learning day on Friday as a result of a positive COVID-19 case identified within the school community.

In a letter to families Thursday evening, Superintendent Darius Modestow informed families of a positive case that directly impacts Frontier Regional School and possibly Sunderland Elementary School. As a result, students at both schools — which have been operating under a hybrid learning model — participated in a remote learning day on Friday, allowing for time to deep clean the buildings and to assess whether the incident warrants further remote learning days.

“We’re trying hard to be as safe as we can, and out of an abundance of caution we felt it was best to make the day remote and assess over the weekend,” said Deerfield Selectboard member Trevor McDaniel, who also sits on the town Board of Health.

Families of Conway Grammar School, Deerfield Elementary School and Whately Elementary School, however, were not affected, according to Modestow.

“We planned for this scenario during our reopening process and have a comprehensive set of guidelines in place to sanitize the school(s), inform families whose students were at risk of exposure or in close contact, and support the affected family as they navigate this stressful experience,” he wrote.

According to Modestow’s letter, parents of students who were in close contact with the Frontier individual are being notified privately.

McDaniel said contact tracers have been working since Thursday night to identify close contacts. As of Friday morning, he couldn’t speak to how many possible close contacts the individual may have had, nor could he confirm whether the positive case was a student or staff member.

“We are following all Massachusetts Department of Health protocols, including collaborating with our local Board of Health to complete contact tracing,” Modestow wrote in his letter.

McDaniel added that the Board of Health is imploring community members to continuing wearing masks, washing their hands and practicing social distancing.

“It’s just hard when it’s your community,” McDaniel said. “The numbers are going up everywhere. … It’s frightening, but if everyone keeps doing what they’re doing, we’ll get through it.”

Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne