EAST PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Department of Education is offering districts the option to once again provide virtual instruction during the winter months instead of incurring a snow day that would have to be made up before the term officially ends next June.

Director of Teaching and Learning Lindsey Reilly provided the School Committee with an overview of the guidance RIDE provided to administrators around the state at the body’s meeting on October 11.

Reilly said the plan would allow the district, as happened a few times last winter under former Superintendent Kathryn Crowley, to go virtual for up to five days. It does not fully commit the district to on-line instruction when it snows, but would give administrators the option to do so if it proves more practical.

After the presentation and following a discussion on the topic, the committee opted to take no action. The administration said it needed committee approval before it could formally submit its proposal to RIDE, which needs to be done by the end of next month.

As a starting point, Reilly explained the administration proposes each grade level — pre-Kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school — would have basically the same schedule each day.

In the mornings, elementary would have English Language Arts (ELA) and Math lessons. Middle school would study its four core content areas. And high school would have an abbreviated block schedule.

In the afternoon, each level would engage in “special subjects and independent assignments.”

Reilly said there are a whole host of provisions mandated by RIDE that the district much include in the plan, such as an attendance component and length of class time. It also includes the need to provide equitable off-line options for students who may not have internet access, i.e., hard copies of assignments planned for that specific day or days.

Superintendent Dr. Sandra Forand told the committee, “The plan is extensive that we need to submit, which is a little ironic considering we did (virtual instruction) for a year and a half (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and they’re asking for even more than we submitted before for a full year of instruction.”

Forand, as super, would make the final decision on how to approach the situation if/when it occurs in a couple of months. Forand jokingly said deciding to call a snow day is something that, “keeps me up now and it’s still only (October).”

She urged the committee to give the administration direction so as not misuse valuable time.

“Before we write the whole plan, if it’s not the committee’s desire to even do virtual days, if you would prefer snow days, we just want that information,” Forand added.

Besides committee approval, the administrators noted the district would also need the support of the East Providence Education Association, the union of city teachers, and the other bargaining units.

Committee members voiced a number of concerns with potential pitfalls in the process from power outages to lack of access to the internet to the social/emotional difficulties students had with distance learning during the pandemic.

Ward 4 member Jessica Beauchaine asked why RIDE thought it was a good idea at all, considering what took place during the 2020-21 term at the height of pandemic, especially.

She also said she agreed with the assessment of At-Large member and committee chair Joel Monteiro, who said he would like to understand in greater detail how the plan would be implemented “so we have predictability on how it will be used.”

One of the worries Monteiro expressed was the potential for how power outages, in city and around the state, may affect virtual instruction. He posited a scenario where teachers living outside the district may not have electricity or visa versa as among the possible challenges.

The chairman eventually asked for a more concrete plan so as “avoid as much ‘Monday morning quarterbacking as possible” from potential critics.

The administrators said they would, in fact, huddle for further development of their proposal and bring back a finalized version for the committee to reconsider at its November meeting.