Maryland public schools will be closed through May 15, three weeks longer than previously announced, due to the coronavirus pandemic, State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon announced at a press conference Friday.

Salmon said local schools will continue online instruction, and they are developing plans to make up lost instructional time during the summer.

“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.

She also said she hopes $207 million Maryland schools are due to receive from the federal CARES Act will help local school systems get the resources they need to continue distance learning, including technology and internet access for students who lack it.

Salmon did not announce an early end to the school year, as neighboring Washington, D.C. did. She said decisions about closing schools need to happen incrementally.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said, “and I certainly don’t want to dash the hopes of many children and parents that there might be some other ways to do public schools going forward.”