Rhode Island public school students will be staying home next week as the state government steps up measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Shortly after a conference call with school leaders from throughout the state, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo held a press conference to make the announcement and update the public on the extraordinary measures being put into place.

The one-week closure will have little impact on private schools, many of which are moving into their two-week March spring break period. But it will have  massive impact on the 150,000 or so public school children in the state, who all will be staying home under very uncertain circumstances. 

School leaders were given several days of notice to begin preparing for home-based learning, and principals and teachers throughout the state have been scrambling to come up with systems for lessons, academic exercises and ongoing instruction while students are kept at home. The Barrington school district is distributing Chrombooks to all of its fourth- and fifth-graders and sending them home in backpacks on Friday. Many other districts have begun developing measures to teach children while teachers and students are in separate locations.

Gov. Raimondo made the school announcement during a 1 p.m. press conference.  Officially, Rhode Island is canceling its April vacation week and moving it to next week, so students are not expected to be working on academic programs next week. The delay gives teachers and schools more time to develop distance learning programs, in the event that the closure extends more than a week.

Gov. Raimondo took a moment to talk to educators: "We're asking you for sacrifices here. I know that ... it's important for the good of our schools and the good of our kids." She asked teachers to forgo their April break and their own vacation plans, and to be available throughout the next week to help principals develop those distance learning programs.