Every public school district in Rhode Island except two have been given the go-ahead to resume full in-person classes when schools reopen next month despite the danger still posed by the coronavirus, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Monday.

Children are scheduled to return to school on Sept. 14 and “our expectation is that's what you will do," the Democratic governor said at a news conference.

Raimondo said she understands that not every district will be able to bring back every student at once, so schools will have until Oct. 13 to ramp up to full in-person learning.

“We're saying open as much as you can starting Sept. 14," she said.

The state's plan to reopen was dependent on five conditions set by the state Department of Health, all of which have been met, she said.

They are positive statewide public health trends, including low hospitalization and spread rates; positive health trends within a municipality; an ability to quickly test symptomatic students and staff and get results within 48 to 72 hours; a sufficient supply of cleaning and protective supplies; and the ability to safely transport students to school.

All schools will also receive a walkthrough by experts before Sept. 14 to make sure they are safe to reopen.

The Providence and Central Falls schools will only be allowed to open to a limited number of students at first because those cities exceeded the state’s threshold of 100 new cases per 100,000 residents per week. Providence, with about 24,000 students, is the state's largest school district. Central Falls has fewer than 3,000 students. Those districts will be re-assessed in a month.

Providence schools will start the school year with a partial reopening that offers in-person classes for all elementary grades and a combination of in-person and distance learning for other grades, according to a statement Monday from Superintendent Harrison Peters.

Private and parochial schools are also being allowed to reopen.

Reopening schools isn't without risk, Raimondo acknowledged, but the state is ready to identify and respond to coronavirus outbreaks based on the lessons learned responding to outbreaks at nursing homes, she said.

She also stressed that no parents will be forced to send their child to school, and remote lessons will be available to children who don't return to the classroom.

In response to a question, Raimondo said it's unclear what will happen if a school district refuses to reopen and starts the school year with remote-only learning. They could be at risk of lawsuits from parents and of losing federal funding, she said.

“I hope they change their minds and do the right thing for the kids," she said.

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NEW DATA

The Rhode Island Department of Health on Monday reported 167 new confirmed coronavirus cases and two more deaths over the past three days.

There have now been more than 21,900 confirmed cases and 1,048 deaths in the state, according to the department.

There were 77 people with coronavirus in the state's hospitals on Saturday, the most recent day for which the information was available, down from 83 the prior day. Of those, nine were in intensive care.

The department does not update on weekends.

The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Rhode Island fell from 2.29% on Aug. 16 to 1.21% on Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island over the past two weeks went from 86.86 on Aug. 16 to 60 on Sunday, Johns Hopkins said.

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COVID RESPONSE FUND GRANTS

The Rhode Island Foundation has distributed another $1 million from its COVID-19 Response Fund to 19 nonprofits to help ensure that residents can pay for food, rent, utilities and other essential expenses during the coronavirus pandemic, the organization announced Monday.

The fund has now distributed more than $7 million.

The Blackstone Valley Community Action Program in Pawtucket will use most of its grant to help clients with rental assistance and to stock its food pantry.

Commericial Fisheries of R.I. in South Kingstown; the Refugee Dream Center in Providence; the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in Providence; the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport; and Westbay Community Action in Warwick are among the organizations receiving grants in the latest round of funding.

“These grants will help backbone community service organizations around the state fill the gaps as people deal with having even fewer resources,” said Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Foundation.