Alabama schools reported nearly 9,200 coronavirus cases in students and staff in the past week.

A state dashboard was updated Friday with information from 84 of the 143 school districts.

The surge is causing more schools to make a temporary switch to remote learning.

Superintendent Eric Mackey says the statewide spike in COVID-19 cases comes as schools were opening the academic year, creating a difficult mix.

He says scores of schools are closed to in-person instruction. Mackey says they are trying to avoid long closures because upcoming test scores are expected to show student achievement declined last year with closures.