Auckland schools have been planning for a shift to alert level 3 and are expecting only small numbers of children on Wednesday.
At level 3 schools must reopen for the children of people who have to return to work and can't make other arrangements, and they can also seek exemptions for small groups of senior secondary students.
Children must be kept in bubbles of no more than ten and a new rule requires secondary students to wear masks.
Here's education correspondent John Gerritsen.
