East Greenwich Schools To Resume In-Person Classes Monday

EAST GREENWICH, RI — East Greenwich Public Schools will resume in-person classes on Monday, Jan. 11 as scheduled, said Superintendent Alexis Meyer at a virtual school committee meeting on Tuesday.

The district moved to distance learning on Dec. 21 in hopes that implementing distance learning before and after the holidays would prevent the spread of COVID-19 within East Greenwich schools.

"No decision has been easy in any of this," said Meyer. "You are trying to make decisions in the best interest of our students and our faculty and staff and keeping our schools safe and keeping them open."

Although East Greenwich schools are back in session, most students are learning virtually this week, except for those will special needs, who will attend in-person classes on Thursday and Friday.

Meyer said all school nurses in the district have received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine and are working to implement voluntary asymptomatic testing for students. The district will use the BinaxNOW test, which can be self-administered with results available in 15 minutes.

"We will have a plan in place should somebody test positive," said Meyer. "We do all have isolation rooms in our schools already established."

As of Tuesday, 48 students and 17 staff members in the district have tested positive for COVID-19 and 14 of those cases were reported beginning Dec. 18. Meyer said she is aware of at least five other likely cases that have not yet been formally reported.