AUBURN — School officials Thursday announced that a staff member at Auburn Middle School has tested positive for COVID-19. 

School Superintendent Cornelia Brown released a statement saying no students are in the school and none are believed to have been exposed to the virus. 

The school is following the standard procedures defined by the Maine CDC, according to the statement. The staff member who tested positive will be isolated until they meet the U.S. CDC criteria for release from isolation, Brown wrote. 

“There is the possibility that other members of the Auburn Middle School staff came into close contact with this individual,” she wrote. “Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of an infected person (with or without a face mask) for at least 15 minutes. These individuals will remain in quarantine for at least 14 days.“

The news of the positive test result comes as the School Committee continues to wrestle with options for returning students to their classrooms. On Wednesday night, the question of whether teachers would be required to use an audiovisual system for remote instruction could not resolved.

The staff member who tested positive was not identified. Brown said the department immediately notified staff, students and families that a staff member from the middle school recently tested positive and that there is the possibility that other staff members came into contact with this individual and therefore may be exposed to the virus. A letter has been posted on the district’s website and social media pages.

On the School Department’s Facebook page, several local parents expressed concerns about how the news would affect plans to return kids to class Sept. 14 and 17. School officials reported there was no change to those plans.

“I hope so,” one mother wrote, “cause my kids are excited even with everything going.”