Around New England

Monkey See, Monkey Do:  Rhode Island Closes Schools for the Year

April 24, 2020

One day after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker closed all public and private schools for the rest of the school year, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo did the same.

“I’ve decided we need to continue distance learning, K through 12, for the remainder of the school year,” Raimndo said during a press conference Thursday, April 23, according to WJAR-TV Channel 10 in Providence. “It’s a hard decision. It’s the decision that’s been made, so now we have to make the best of it.”

Raimondo said she made the decision because it would be tough to have a building filled with hundreds of people amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now, all of the schools in the state are expected to switch to distance learning if they have not already.

According to WJAR, Rhode Island state officials say more than 90 percent of public school students in the state are distance learning already.