BOSTON – Emphasizing that residents of the commonwealth “need to dig deep and stay put” as Massachusetts continues to maneuver through its surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Charlie Baker announced on April 21 that all public and private schools would stay closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Both Baker and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said in their discussions with school stakeholders, including superintendents, principals, teachers and parents, the general feeling was if there was a safe way to return to school, they would like to do so, but after consideration, it was determined impossible without putting children, families and educators at risk.

“It’s the right thing to do considering the facts on the ground associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and, at this point in time, there is no authoritative guidance or advisories with respect to how to operate schools safely and how to get kids to and from schools safely. We believe students, therefore, cannot safely return to school and avoid the risk of transmitting this virus to others.” Baker said.

Later in the press conference, Baker doubled down on his statement and stressed the need for a careful approach to the reopening of schools and the state, declaring, “I’ll be damned if we go through this thing, we flatten the curve, we do all of the stuff we’re supposed to do and then we create some run up again in the fall because we don’t handle the reentry, the reopening in a way that actually works and makes sense and keeps people safe. This is difficult. It’s also purposeful and in many cases and in many ways, it has worked and we should all remember that.”

Speaking of educators he spoke with who expressed desires to return, Riley said, “They miss the kids. They love what they do. But the data didn’t support it and we’re going to err on the side of caution in the best interest of the safety of our children and the adults and that’s why the decision was made.”

Baker and Riley stressed the closure of schools does not signify an early start to summer vacation and remote learning would continue and be expanded.

“We are making this decision to allow school districts to plan through the end of the year to offer remote learning to all students. This includes students with special needs and English language learners,” Baker said.

Riley added, “This has been an unprecedented interruption to an entire generation of students and we want to minimize learning loss as much as possible.”

Riley indicated that DESE would issue guidance for school districts for continued remote learning through the end of the year. Baker said a remote learning initiative would be launched by the state and an advisory group made up of “school officials, students, parents and business leaders” would develop additional learning resources. Baker also said DESE was preparing summer learning plans to assist students at risk of falling behind grade level and boost readiness when students return to the classroom in the fall. The state’s current guidance suggests districts adopt a credit/no credit system, though there is flexibility for high schools to continue with a grading structure. “We’ve left that to the local decision-making bodies to decide what they’re going to do for that,” Riley said.

Riley said he has approached the state’s educational response to the pandemic in four phases. The first was closing schools and establishing health and food initiatives; the second was the issuance of initial educational guidance; the third will begin this week when the second set of guidance is released. The final phase, Riley said, would be the reopening of schools, which will also be incorporated into this week’s guidance.

“Today’s announcement gives us additional time to work on phase four and consider what that will look like,” he said. DESE’s guidance would also include discussion on mental health supports for students, essential standards to allow students to advance to the next grade level.

Lt. Gov. Karen Polito, chair of the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council, said they have been actively assisting DESE and regional STEM networks to compile “the most robust remote learning opportunities for our students.”

Addressing how the lack of classroom learning and potential remote learning inequities would impact students, Riley said he didn’t think the true impact would me measurable “for a few years.” He added districts have been instructed to identify and collect data on children that have not been reached to this point for remote learning in order to best develop remedial supports for at-risk youth. He also noted the state’s guidance stresses that “remote learning is not synonymous with online learning” and other options like project-based learning is encouraged and taking place.

“What you are going to see in this new guidance is sharing of some best practices for what remote learning looks like both from an online perspective and from a non-online perspective,” Riley said.

In addition, non-essential childcare facilities will remain shuttered until June 29.

“Today’s announcement to extend the childcare closure helps the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) continue to keep the best public health interests of our families and our workforce at the forefront,” EEC Commissioner Samantha L. Aigner-Treworgy said. “It also gives us time to look ahead and align the reopening of childcare with the reopening of employment across the state.”

Baker added his administration would be working to restore the capacity for family- and center-based childcare once it can be done safely. Aigner-Treworgy said the reopening of child care programming would require a multi-phased plan to ensure public health while addressing the needs of families and businesses.

“Parents cannot go back to work if their children are not safely cared for,” she said. “Educators cannot go back to work if proper preparations and protocols aren’t in place. Programs cannot reopen if meaningful policies, guidance and support is not there for them. Businesses cannot reopen if employees don’t have safe, high-quality childcare to send their children to.”

The 523 emergency childcare programs statewide will continue operating to serve first responders, healthcare workers and other essential personnel. Additionally, the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) has partnered with Care.com to assist unemployed childcare workers to provide in-home care for essential workers and families with children with special needs.

“The providers of our commonwealth have stepped up to serve our essential workers and their commitment to children and families has really been the backbone of the essential workforce,” said Aigner-Treworgy.

Polito also announced the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education will defer scheduled repayments for its non-interest loan programs through the Office of Student Financial Assistance for four months. The nearly 12,000 college students participating in the loan program will not receive a bill until mid-July with the payment due in August. The Office of Student Finance Assistance will also be waiving penalties for accounts currently not in good standing at this time.

“Our hope is that these deferments help some students as they navigate the many challenges this pandemic has created and help ease the financial burden even just a little bit,” she said.