Providence College prepares for in-class return after outbreak

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Providence College students may be just days away from going back to in-person classes.

School officials told ABC 6 News they hoped to have all students back into classrooms by next Monday; nearly three weeks after they were told they had to take all their classes online.

“I miss my friends, I miss my professors. Online and remote learning is great, but it can’t deliver the same experience that in-person classes can,” Christoper Iadeluca, a senior at Providence College, said. “I was in my house for about two, three weeks and we were all stuck there. It was unfortunate, but it needed to happen. It was for the safety of the school and the community at-large.”

According to school officials, they started testing every student on Sunday, and depending on how many test positive, they were hoping to let students who live on-campus back to classrooms on Thursday, and then let off-campus students back next Monday.

“If someone ends up in class, and they’re not supposed to be there, and the faculty informs us or we see them; they’ll be suspended,” Steve Sears, dean of students at Providence College, said.

Sears said that the stay-at-home order would still be in place; meaning students should only be traveling for essential reasons, like going to class, work, and picking up supplies.

“That’s the key here to moving forward; masks all the time, staying in small groups, staying in clusters, avoiding crowds, and being safe,” Sears said.

If students return to classes and there was another outbreak, school officials told ABC 6 News, there was the possibility that students would be sent home for the remainder of the semester.