Providence releases school walk-through results

Providence schools said Sunday it met the reopening expectations of the state's Department of Health and Department of Education for students to safely return to in-person learning.

The district released the results of the walk-through checklist of every school in the city.

As schools prepared to reopen for the start of the year, air quality concerns became an obstacle in reopening buildings.

On the checklist, identifying HVAC systems were among the many reoccurring points inspectors circled "no" during the walk-through.

"In order to assist with circulating fresh air through its buildings, the district is supplementing its HVAC systems with open windows and fans," noted the district on its website. "According to the engineers working with our custodial vendor, it is not practical to rebalance an HVAC system if windows will be opened and closed regularly -- a necessity under the current conditions."

Providence schools said some schools are in the middle of "completing the placement of directional and health-related signage," which, they said, will be completed by Monday.

To keep students safe, classrooms have been laid out differently to "maximize social distancing."

School officials added that "every school has enough face shields to give children an added layer of protection."

Providence public schools will start the school year with a partial reopening on Monday.

All elementary grades will have in-person learning while other grades will receive a combination of in-person and distance learning.