Raimondo gives schools more time to reopen

WOONSOCKET – School districts on edge about reopening for full in-person learning got a temporary hall pass on Monday from Gov. Gina Raimondo, who made it clear she expects many to reopen in two weeks with some sort of a hybrid model.

Yesterday was Raimondo’s self-imposed deadline for making a decision about whether school districts will open for full, in-person learning by the first day of school, on Sept. 14.With the exception of Providence and Central Falls, Raimondo said every public school district in the state has a “green-light” to do so, but no district will be required to have all students in class before Oct. 13.

“Some districts are going to proceed faster, others are going to have a bit more of a cautious approach,” the governor said during a briefing at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence. “We think that’s fine. We think that’s appropriate. We’re saying open as much as you can beginning Sept. 14. Many of you are going to take a staggered approach which we feel is fully responsible.”

As Raimondo worked up to yesterday’s much anticipated decision, many school districts, including Woonsocket, had been expressing concerns about opening up for full, in-person learning, citing issues with air quality and HVAC filtration efficiency – among other things. The School Committee has held off voting on the situation, but at least one other ruling body in the area, the Cumberland School Committee, has already voted to start the school year with distance learning.

It’s unclear now how Cumberland will proceed in light of the decision from Raimondo, who said she expects all districts to have at least some in-classroom learning by Sept. 14 – even Providence and Central Falls.

For roughly 30 minutes before announcing her decision, Raimondo laid out the case for reopening schools, reaffirming much of what she’s said during the last several weeks.

Broadly speaking, the governor said the statewide test positivity rate is at a very favorable level, despite the fact