2 RI School Districts Requiring Masks Again As COVID Numbers Increase

Providence RI

23 May, 2022

1:29 PM

Description

PROVIDENCE, RI — Two school districts in Rhode Island are once again requiring students and staff to wear masks, as COVID-19 cases increase across the state. Providence Public Schools said the mask mandate will be back on Tuesday. And in Central Falls, mask requirements came back Monday. "Due to the increasing number of COVID cases (according to the CDC), the district has decided that all staff and students must wear masks effective tomorrow, 5/23," Central Falls school officials said in a social media post. "Please know this decision is to keep our students and team safe and healthy." In Providence, the policy applies inside all school buildings on buses and at indoor events the school district sponsors. Providence school officials said the decision came after the monitoring of COVID-19 case data across the district and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The average number of daily positive cases among staff and students increased from a low of about 10 cases per day in March and early April to roughly 40 positive cases per day in early May and 60 positive cases per day last week. Providence County, which both Providence and Central Falls are a part of, were also recently upgraded to high risk for community spread of COVID-19, according to the CDC. As of Thursday, every county in Rhode Island except for Newport County was deemed high risk. "Given the increase in cases and new information from the CDC, I engaged in discussions with students, staff, community members, the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the Rhode Island Department of Education," Superintendent Javier Montañez said in a statement. "The additional mitigation layer of masking will help us manage this new COVID surge and keep more students in the classroom where they learn best. It's also important for us to manage this surge for the over 3,000 students who will continue their education in our summer learning programs in the coming weeks." School officials said they will continue tracking COVID-19 data and will reevaluate this mask requirement on a consistent basis moving forward.