Hallways hum at the high school

The hallways at Cloquet High School, above, were bustling Tuesday as students returned to more in-person classes for the first time since November - when Covid-19 rates were peaking in Carlton County - following other area secondary schools that have already returned to school. CHS principal Steve Battaglia said about 72 percent of students are back on campus. Students can choose distance learning and currently Cloquet has more than 200 high school students learning online. That includes a number of student athletes, some of whom are staying away from school as basketball and hockey enter playoffs because they don't want to risk ending their seasons early due to Covid exposures.