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LEADING OFF
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Rhode Map, your daily guide to everything happening in the Ocean State. I’m Dan McGowan and I desperately need a new season of “Fargo” to watch. Follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan or send tips to Dan.McGowan@globe.com.
ICYMI: Rhode Island was up to 65,818 confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday, after adding 3,324 new cases since Friday. The most recent overall daily test-positive rate was 10.7 percent, and the first-time positive rate was 28 percent. The state announced 29 more deaths, bringing the total to 1,448. There were 422 people in the hospital. It’s a big day for charter schools in Rhode Island.
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Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green is planning to recommend that the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education approve three new charter schools and expand three others at a meeting tonight.
She also plans to recommend that the council deny a charter application for the Wangari Maathai Community School, which hoped to open in Providence next fall. The recommendation cites a lack of community support as a driving factor.
Here’s a sneak peek at Infante-Green’s recommendations.
New schools
Excel Academy Rhode Island
The Massachusetts-based charter organization is seeking to open a K-12 mayoral academy that would enroll nearly 2,200 students from Providence, Central Falls, and North Providence by 2030. If approved, the school would open for kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade students in 2022, and gradually expand to include students in every grade. Read the recommendation.
Nuestro Mundo Public Charter School
The independent K-8 school is affiliated with Providence College and will enroll 414 city students by 2025. The dual-language school will teach 50 percent of content in Spanish and 50 percent in English. If approved, it will open for kindergarten, first grade, and sixth grade students in 2021, and expand to every grade within five years. Read the recommendation.
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Providence Preparatory Charter School
The independent middle school for students from Providence in grades five through eight would open in 2021 for fifth and sixth graders, and eventually serve 252 students by 2023. The school is proposing an eight-and-a-half-hour school day and at least 220 days of school per year, which is significantly more class time than traditional public schools offer. Read the recommendation.
Expanding schoolsAchievement First
The organization already enrolls more than 3,000 elementary and middle school students (with a high school on the way) from Providence, North Providence, Warwick, and Cranston, but this expansion would be for an additional 2,628 students from Providence and North Providence by 2033. The first wave of new students would enter kindergarten and first grade in 2021. Read the recommendation.
Rhode Island Nurses Institute Middle College Charter School
The independent charter school already enrolls 272 high school students from across the state, but it wants to add 228 more seats beginning in 2021. The school’s goal is to improve the diversity in race and ethnicity among nurses in Rhode Island. Read the recommendation.
Segue Institute for Learning
The independent charter school already serves 240 students from Central Falls in grades three through eight, and it now seeking to add 120 seats in kindergarten, first, and second grade beginning in 2021. Read the recommendation.
The Council on Elementary and Secondary Education is not scheduled to vote on the applications at tonight’s meeting, but it’s rare that it opposes recommendations made by the commissioner.
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THE GLOBE IN RHODE ISLAND
⚓ As Lifespan and Care New England continue merger discussions, a for-profit company has entered the picture with a $250 million offer to buy Care New England. Read more.
⚓ Cranston is moving all of its schools to virtual learning for the rest of 2020, beginning Thursday. Read more.
⚓ Amanda Milkovits reports that state prosecutors are urging a Superior Court judge not to dismiss a criminal case against a Providence sergeant accused of assaulting a handcuffed man, saying that videos released before a trial shouldn’t prejudice the case against him. Read more.
⚓ Former state Representative Aaron Regunberg is mulling another run for lieutenant governor in 2022, but he is likely to face stiff competition as incumbent Dan McKee is term-limited. Read more.
MORE ON BOSTONGLOBE.COM
⚓ Health: Pfizer and Moderna rejected invitations from President Trump to appear at a White House “Vaccine Summit” set for today. Read more.
⚓ Transportation: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority may postpone some key decisions about scaling back service until next year, according to the the agency’s general manager. Read more.
⚓ Sports: Breakdancing is going to be an Olympic sport. Seriously. Read more.
⚓ Business: DraftKings has reached an agreement with Foxwoods to offer mobile sports betting if and when the Connecticut legislature legalizes it. Read more.
WHAT’S ON TAP TODAY
Each day, Rhode Map offers a cheat sheet breaking down what’s happening in Rhode Island. Have an idea? E-mail us at RInews@globe.com.
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⚓ CIC Health is opening up a new COVID-19 testing site at 225 Dyer Street in Providence.
⚓ Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza is scheduled to participate in a national press call at 11 a.m. with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income to discuss a new funding mechanism for cities that are considering guaranteed income pilot programs (Providence has not set up its pilot program yet).
⚓ The University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium is holding its final lecture of 2020 at 7 p.m. The featured speaker is ChrisTiana ObeySumner.
⚓ Do you ❤ Rhode Map? Your subscription is what makes it possible. We’ve got a great offer here
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @danmcgowan.