‘They needed more time’: Start of school year in RI pushed back two weeks for districts to prepare

During her weekly press conference Wednesday, Governor Gina Raimondo outlined the reasons why the state decided to push back the start to the school year by two weeks.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – During her weekly press conference Wednesday, Governor Gina Raimondo outlined the reasons why the state decided to push back the start to the school year by two weeks.

The Governor cited the need for testing improvements, transportation plans, and more time for school districts to prepare for a variety of options.

“I’ve come to the view that a bit more time will allow us to be fully ready with our testing, with our transportation, with our cleaning, so that we can have confidence when the children go back.”

The start of school for students will now be Monday, September 14. Professional development days for teachers will be from September 9 through September 11. In total, students will be in school for 177 days ending on June 25. With the professional development days added, the school year totals 180 days.

“Districts were really clear with us that they needed more time to make sure they can put the safety measures and precautions in place,” said Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green.

The decision from RIDE on whether schools will meet in-person, virtual, or a mix of the two won’t come until the week of August 31. The previous date was August 16, but the Governor said they want to make the decision with the most current data.

“We can’t make a decision based upon the data of August 16th for what we think the prevalence of the disease is going to be like September 14th,” Raimondo said.

One of the most important boxes to check ahead of the school year, the Governor said, is testing. The state has secured eight rapid testing machines to process rapid tests for schools, and Rhode Island has joined a ten-state collaborative to get more test kits.

“We want to make it, so when we open school, everyone can get their test results 48 to 72 hours,” Raimondo said. “We’re not there yet.”

Another box to check is transportation. Experts from RIDE, the Rhode Island National Guard, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) have teamed up to come up with creative solutions when it comes to getting students to school.

The Governor said it’s difficult to expect children to face forward and wear their masks the entire bus ride with the windows down to assure proper airflow. So, families will need to prepare for alternatives.

“Creative options could be children walking to school, children biking to school, ability to pick kids up and walk them to school, scootering to school.”

The Governor said they’re also tossing around ideas like National Guard members driving buses, and even using RIPTA buses to transport kids, that way students can spread out on more buses. She said everything is on the table, but no decisions have been made yet.

“We are not where we need to be, we are not as good as we were, and we’re not as good as we could be if everyone followed the rules. Hospitalizations are creeping up, we still have days with 100 or more cases per day.. c’mon. We have to get kids back to school,” Raimondo said.

During the press conference, the Governor was asked about the Warwick School Committee vote to have a remote school year. She said she “couldn’t be more disappointed” in the vote, and said the leaders in the district threw in the towel before even trying.

The Governor said the Warwick school district never submitted plans for in-person learning.

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