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Lamar State College Port Arthur is pausing Phase II of its reopening plan due to the significant rise in COVID-19 cases over the past week plus.

School officials made the announcement just before noon on Thursday.

“We had planned for all employees to begin a traditional work schedule in July but we are delaying the implementation of Phase III and the reopening of the campus until Monday, July 20,” a statement reads.

Phase II guidelines have the campus open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Staff would work from their offices until 5 p.m.

Campus is closed on Fridays.

According to Lamar State College Port Arthur, information sharing allows the college to detect and respond to an outbreak on campus.

“Information about employee absenteeism will be reported daily to the Human Resources office,” according to the school’s reopening plan. “Student absenteeism that exceeds two consecutive class periods must be reported to the Student Services office. If LSCPA has cases of COVID-19, local health officials will help identify those individuals and will follow up and recommend next steps. Local health officials should be a key partner in information sharing.”