PROVIDENCE – The Providence Public School District issued Wednesday its draft guidance on health and safety measures the district plans to implement for schools to reopen in the fall after closing in-person learning in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PPSD is currently under the control of the R.I. Department of Education and Gov. Gina M. Raimondo stated earlier this summer that she is pushing for schools, both public and private, across Rhode Island to reopen to in-person learning Aug. 31.
The 13-page draft plan outlines five principles for safely reopening schools in the district: Put safety and wellness first; Be equitable; Strive for excellence; Be flexible, transparent and responsive; and In-person learning matters. The plan also outlines guidelines for when and where to wear face protection, number of students allowed in particular settings for social distancing, health screening processes and enhanced cleaning protocols.
According to the plan, face masks will be required to be worn while riding buses, arriving and leaving school, and when students and staff are in hallways when six feet of room cannot be maintained. Face masks are recommended, but not required, if people can maintain more than six feet of distance from one another and in stable groups that aren’t with other people, the plan states. Masks will not required during naptime, when students or staff have issues breathing or when facemasks would negatively impact safety.
Guidance on group sizes for schools were offered for three scenarios: limited openings, partial reopenings and full in person reopenings, which would be determined by R.I. Department of Health guidelines.
Groups in K-8 schools will be limited to being no more than 15 people in a “limited” public-health scenario, according to the plan, or up to a 30-person maximum if the reopenings are either partial or full in-person.
In high schools, group sizes in a limited public-health scenario will have a 15-person maximum and the groups may stay in the same classrooms while teachers rotate. For the “partial” scenario, high schools will only have a 50% student capacity and students will be scheduled as stable groups “whenever possible,” the plan states. There will be no limit to student capacity at high schools in a full in-person scenario. Masks must be worn by both students and staff, per RIDE guidance, the plan states.
PPSD said it will also provide all students and staff members with one reusable cloth face covering and each school will have disposable masks available if students or staff forget theirs before arriving to school.
Students and families will be asked to complete a self-screening form or use the self-screening option on the Crush COVID RI app to determine if they have symptoms, PPSD said. If a student or household member is ill, the student must stay home.
Students will also be screened by bus monitors before getting on and will be asked to go home if they have symptoms, PPSD said.
The district says in the plan that it will continue to update the document based on feedback it receives from stakeholders and additional health guidance from the state. Community members are also encouraged to contact PPSD’s Office of Family and Community Engagement at (401) 456-0686 or by email.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
