North Dakota to reopen school facilities for summer programs

North Dakota schools will be able to open next month for summer programs, Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said Monday. 

Schools, which have been shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic, will be allowed to reopen starting June 1 for summer programs. 

Permitted activities include child care programs, summer school classes and college admission testing. 

The order does not prohibit schools from offering summer instruction by distance learning. 

“Nothing in this order requires that a district open for summer and offer these programs, and nothing prohibits a school, with approval from the Department of Public Instruction, from offering summer school courses by distance learning,” State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said in a statement. 

Burgum said the order “might be called a soft opening of school facilities.” 

“This will help get us open for next fall, and it will ensure that students can receive education and some really important programs can keep going on through the summer,” Burgum said in a statement. 

As of Monday, North Dakota’s health department reported 1,518 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths statewide.