School officials eye switch to remote learning

Administrators appear to be keeping options open on students return after Christmas break

WOONSOCKET – Citing guidance from the Rhode Island Department of Education, school districts here and in Pawtucket are both advising parents to be on the lookout for updates this week about the possibility of a return to distance learning after the holiday break.

“Please know that this deci sion has not been made, however, in the event of a spike statewide, RIDE wants districts and families to be prepared for this possibility,” Schools Supt. Patrick McGee told parents via social media. “Please understand that the WED (Woonsocket Education Department) plans to return to full in-person learning following the break unless RIDE districts to go Distance Learning for a short period of time.”

Pawtucket Schools Supt. Cheryl McWilliams issued a similar advisory to parents. Taking to Twitter, McWilliams said children were sent home with Chromebooks for the holiday break last week, but parents shouldn’t take that to mean they’re not coming back for live classroom teaching next week.

“Chromebooks are coming home and not an indication of a plan for distance learning,” she said.

McGee’s advisory drew mixed reactions from parents on social media.

“I think they need to do this for at least a while,” Beth Nadeau commented. “Mr. Dr. told me kids can bring the virus home with them even if they do not have symptoms...I’d much rather them go back to distance learning.”

Another suggested that a shift back to distance learning could come with a price tag that might be onerous for some families.

“Hope all WORKING parents have people to watch their children,” David Laforest commented.

The advisories from the superintendents were issued after Education Commissioner Angelia Infanté-Green issued a statement last week urging school districts

to send children home with their Chromebooks during the holiday break, in the event that she orders a statewide return to remote learning. Infanté-Green issued the statement last Wednesday, stressing that no decision had yet been made on whether teaching would be remote or live when schools reopen.

“We ask that all of our schools be prepared for all scenarios by sending students home with their school laptops and other essential resources for distance learning,” the education commissioner said. “While we have not made any decision to go to distance learning in the new year, we want to make sure every student is prepped and ready to succeed if necessary.”

The advisories come amid a nationwide surge in new cases of COVID-19, driven by the Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa around Thanksgiving. Since then, it’s spread quickly around the globe, surpassing Delta as the dominant strain of the virus in many areas, including the U.S. Owing to certain genetic mutations, Omicron is believed to be far catchier than Delta, though epidemiologists are cautiously optimistic that the infection it causes is milder – especially for those who are fully vaccinated and boosted.

The Northeast is one place in the country where Omicron is spreading fastest, according to the New York Times, which reported Monday that the country has seen an 83 percent spike in infection rates in the last 14 days.

In its most current data as of Wednesday morning, the Rhode Island Department of Health says the infection rate was continuing a general upward trend that’s been ongoing since about Oct. 30. RIDOH calls the present rate of transmission “high” – its most urgent alert level – saying the average for the week ending Dec. 18 was 6.3 percent.

On one day last week – Dec. 22 – the state identified 1,379 new cases, which was higher than any time since Jan. 5, according to RIDOH data. Hospitalizations, another key indicator of community risk, were down slightly, at 248.

While health experts are saying that infections appear to be far milder in those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted – if those individuals experience any symptoms at all – local vaccination rates in Woonsocket and Pawtucket are rather low. Woonsocket, which long had the lowest vaccination rate in the state, no longer holds that dubious distinction, but it’s now checking in at 55.7 percent of the population – ranking just ahead of last-place Tiverton, according to RIDOH.

In Pawtucket, 64 percent of the population is vaccinated. Statewide, the figure is over 77 percent, RIDOH says.

North Smithfield and Woonsocket continue to partner up in offering boosters from their clinic at Monsignor Gadoury Elementary School every Wednesday through the month of January. The clinic will be open from 3-7 p.m. on each of those days, but appointments are required in advance. They can be scheduled at vaccinateRI.org.

Even before the emergence of Omicron, many schools were having a tough time juggling live classroom teaching and quarantines for students and staffers who either got sick with the virus, or who were in close contact with others who tested positive. Though there is no official remote learning plan in place at WED, many students lost days’ worth of live education when they were shifted to at-home, remote learning from various schools as they were quarantining.

Earlier this month, the entire Villa Nova Middle School shut down for an entire week after someone who had visited multiple classrooms later tested positive for COVID-19.

“While thus far we have had a challenging and frustrating year, I am confident that our resilience and collaboration will help us to continue to move forward and provide our students with the support necessary to be successful and to excel this school year,” McGee told parents in the advisory about post-holiday break plans.

Classes are scheduled to resume in both Pawtucket and Woonsocket public schools after the break on Monday, Jan. 3.