Massachusetts extends school closures through end of school year

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on Tuesday extended the closure of the state’s K-12 schools and non-emergency child care programs through the end of the school year, with remote learning set to continue. 

Massachusetts joined 34 other states that have shut down schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 year, according to a tally by Education Week.

“It’s the right thing to do considering the facts on the ground at this point. At this point in time there is no authoritative guidance with respect to how to operate schools safely and how to get kids to and from school safely,” Baker said during a Tuesday press conference, NBC Boston reported.

Today we extended the closure of K-12 schools and non-emergency childcare programs through the end of the school year.

Remote learning will continue and @MASchoolsK12 is taking additional steps to boost remote learning to ensure we’re doing everything we can to support students. pic.twitter.com/K2aWSdbMBS

— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) April 21, 2020

Non-emergency child care programs will stay closed until June 29.

Massachusetts began dealing with the coronavirus in early March, prompting mayors and the state’s largest teachers union to call for schools to be closed.

Baker announced on March 15 that schools would remain closed for three weeks. A little more than a week later, he extended the school closures until May 4. The state’s current stay-at-home measure is scheduled to end on May 4. 

Massachusetts has the third-most coronavirus cases in the U.S. at 39,643, according to The New York Times. The state has recorded 1,809 deaths, the fourth most of any state.

President Trump has announced that his reopening strategy involves allowing governors to determine when their state should reopen.

Baker has encouraged more testing, saying he wants the number of positive cases to decline steadily for 14 days before reopening, according to NBC Boston.