By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer
Posted Sep 13, 2020 at 10:21 PM
PROVIDENCE — With schools in most parts of Rhode Island starting to reopen for in-person learning on Monday, the Providence Teachers Union has asked a federal institute to evaluate school buildings in the state’s largest school district to ensure they can safely host students and teachers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The union that represents 1,940 teachers in the Providence public school system made the request of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, a research agency that is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Union president Maribeth Calabro said she hopes to have an answer on Monday or Tuesday on whether the institute will carry out the review.
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The union’s concerns about the safety of the city’s school buildings predate the COVID-19 pandemic, but Calabro said that the School Department has so far failed to adequately address problems with ventilation and cleanliness, and hasn’t been forthcoming about the results of recent “walkthroughs” of buildings by state-run teams.
“We waited and waited and now schools are reopening,” Calabro said Sunday. “They left us no choice.”
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