Public schoolchildren in the District won’t return to class this academic year, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday, extending remote learning for more than 50,000 students in the city school system.

D.C. Public Schools will end the academic year on May 29, three weeks earlier than scheduled. Charter schools, which educate nearly half of the city’s public school students, are expected to end classes around the same time, Bowser said.

“Our top priority, of course, in making all school decisions is protecting the health and well-being of our students, our families and educators,” Bowser said at a news conference. 

City officials say shortening the school year will allow schools to add those weeks to the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year in August. Summer school will also continue, but it’s unclear if instruction will be provided in-person or remotely.

DCPS students have been out of class since March 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Earlier this week, Bowser extended the school closures until May 15, to align with an order directing residents to stay at home. 

Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn said charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, will make separate announcements about when those students will end the academic year. 

KIPP D.C., the city’s largest charter school operator, said students would continue distance learning through June 12. Kingsman Academy Public Charter School, which is located in Northeast, announced it would do the same. 

Many school systems, including those in the Washington region, have moved classes online. In D.C., virtual learning has created challenges for some families and exacerbated the city’s inequities. 

Some students do not have computers or WiFi to complete assignments, prompting the school system to distribute devices to students and raise money for technology. 

The school system is working to get 16,000 devices in the hands of students. Bowser said 180 computers have been distributed to students through a fund that was started to provide technology for digital learning during the coronavirus outbreak. Educators and parents also worry students, especially those who have special needs, will not receive the same level of instruction from home.

Twenty-six states, including Virginia, have canceled in-person classes for the rest of the academic year. The closures affect nearly half of the country’s 50 million public school students.

Maryland State Superintendent of Public Schools Karen B. Salmon also said Friday that schools in the state will remain closed through May 15. The state’s nearly 900,000 public schoolchildren have been out of classrooms since the middle of March.

Salmon said school systems are preparing to expand summer school programs to make up for lost instruction.

“State and local school officials are preparing for a number of scenarios depending on when our educators and students would be able to re-enter school buildings,” she said. “I understand the impact of the uncertainty of this situation and it’s created much anxiety across our school communities.”

This story originally appeared at WAMU. It has been updated with information from Maryland State Superintendent of Public Schools Karen B. Salmon, and to reflect that it’s the academic year that’s ending early.