PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo announced that she has set a goal to reopen all of Rhode Island’s public schools on Aug. 31 with a standardized, state-wide calendar.
Raimondo said she is committing $42 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds to help schools make necessary changes related to the coronavirus and is willing to allocate additional funds if necessary. How these funds will be allocated will be announced in the near future.
The governor said that schools will operate differently than they have in the past, including the implementation of mask requirements, additional cleaning, the potential spacing of desks and no one will be allowed to go to school if they are sick. Staggered start times with more buses and transportation could also be possible, said Raimondo.
“It will look different and we just have to realize that now,” said Raimondo.
With the standardized calendar, which was created in collaboration with teacher’s unions, each school district in the state will have the same professional development days, holidays and breaks, and a graduation date of June 2. Snow days will still be determined on the district level but it doesn’t mean that students will have a day off. According to Angelica Infante-Green, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education for Rhode Island, snow days will be held through distance learning.
“Snow days, the way we knew them, are gone,” said Infante-Green.
Infante Green also noted that bus routes in Rhode Island will most likely have to increase by three times due to distancing measures.
Raimondo admitted that she cannot foresee what the coronavirus situation will be like come Aug. 31, but she said that public health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said schools may open in Phase III.
The state will be publishing guidance for school districts for their reopening plans on June 19, which will outline the minimum requirements. All districts are expected to submit their COVID-19 plans to the R.I. Department of Education by July 17 for feedback. Raimondo said that districts should be outlining backup plans in case there is a need for a hybrid program for both in-person learning and distance learning, as well as full-distance learning in case there is another coronavirus surge.
“Let’s rebuild an even better public education system than we had when we got into this,” Raimondo said.
Some key highlights on Rhode Island’s statewide 2020-21 academic calendar include:
- All public schools will have their first day on Aug. 31
- All students and teachers will have a Winter vacation from Feb. 15-19, 2021
- All students and teachers will have a Spring vacation from April 19-21, 2021
- The following professional development days will have students participate in distance learning; Sept. 21, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Dec. 14, Jan. 25, March 15, April 12, May 17
- The R.I. Department of Education encourages private schools to follow this statewide calendar.
The governor’s briefing comes as COVID-19 cases in the state increased by 66 on Tuesday, with identified cases now totaling 15,756, the R.I. Department of Health said Wednesday.
Reported deaths due to the coronavirus increased by six, pushing the death toll in Rhode Island from the pandemic to 812.
“The virus hasn’t gone away. It’s still here,” said Raimondo, who announced Monday the expansion of free coronavirus tests for asymptomatic Rhode Islanders who work in close-contact businesses such as gyms, salons and childcare centers.
Current hospitalizations due to COVID-19 numbered 148, an increase from 144 one day prior. Of those hospitalized, 27 were in intensive care units and 16 were on ventilators. To date, 1,406 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital.
There were 2,539 tests for COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state test total to 183,622.
This story has been updated to include details from the governor’s press conference.
