Raimondo reassures Rhode Islanders it’s safe to be in school

PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina Raimondo tried to reassure families Wednesday that the public schools are safe following a recent communication snafu between the North Providence superintendent and the health department that prompted the high school to go remote.

“Is it safe to be in school? The answer is yes,” Raimondo said during her weekly COVID-19 press conference. “The fact is that 95 schools have seen positive cases, but the majority of those schools (69 of them) have only had one positive case.

“That means in all of those schools, the system is working. The testing is working. The contact tracing is working. We haven’t seen outbreaks. If and when we do, we will handle them.”

Since school started, she said, Rhode Island’s K-12 schools, both in-person and virtual, have seen 260 cases.

A total of 6,000 students and staff have been tested for a roughly 2 percent positivity rate. Of the 260 cases, half are from students and staff who have not set foot in a classroom.

Raimondo praised the Warwick School Committee for reversing its stance and voting this week to return the elementary grades to in-person learning.

She urged the Pawtucket Schools to “do the right thing,” adding that “it’s not OK that you are not opening schools.

“Try a little harder to open schools, particularly for the youngest and those with special needs,” she said, “for the children who can least afford it, the poor and black and brown people in Pawtucket… The kids who are falling further behind... Help get these kids back.”

She urged students and staff to use the testing system set aside strictly for public schools because that system is designed for same-day results. Call 844-857-1814 for an appointment.

Raimondo made a plea for retired teachers to work as substitute teachers, saying that every district is facing a shortage.

And she said the Department of Education has partnered with the non-profit Highlander Institute to train people to become substitute teachers, either in-person or remotely.

“Even if you have never been a teacher before,” she said, “please help us out. If you complete the training, we will include your name on a hiring list that RIDE is sharing with every district.”

Woonsocket had planned to bring back ninth-graders on a hybrid schedule this month, if not sooner. Then, Supt. Patrick McGee discovered late last month that the number of sick or on-leave teachers had doubled and there weren’t enough substitutes to cover the absent staff.

Subs make between $90 and $150 a day. For more information, go to www.backtoschoolri.com.

During the question-and-answer period, Raimondo was asked about the breakdown in communications between North Providence and the health department.

North Providence High School switched to remote learning for the next two weeks after two students tested positive and 100 other individuals were forced to quarantine. Supt. Joseph Goho said he might have avoided this scenario if the health department had returned his phone call Sunday night.

The health department said it left a message for Goho Sunday but did not return his call until Monday morning, after the high school had opened.

Raimondo said her office is looking into how to improve the communications system, which other superintendents have also had issues with.

“...It could have been better in this instance,” she said. “We’re going through how we can improve that process. We’re digging into it to make sure it won’t happen again.”