Governor Asa Hutchinson is planning to give an update Monday on the current April 17 deadline to reopen Arkansas schools that have been closed to on site instruction since the coronavirus outbreak began in the state.

The governor originally closed schools on March 15 for two weeks due to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Arkansas. He extended that closure deadline to April 17 nearly a week later. The governor and education officials said there would be off-site instruction during this time and that the issue would be re-evaluated at a later date.

Hutchinson told Talk Business & Politics Friday that he plans to speak to the timetable on school closures this coming Monday.

“I talked to Secretary Key today and we talked about the schools. We intend to make an announcement on Monday as to what’s ahead. He wants to put some plans together as to exactly how we address that in our schools,” said Hutchinson. “Obviously, we’re not going to reopen the schools when you’re continuing to go up in your cases, but we also want to make sure that we have all of our facts together before we make a formal decision next Monday.”

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump recommended that states continue federal social distancing guidelines until April 30, after he initially expressed hope to return to normal routines by Easter Sunday, April 12.

Those social distancing guidelines include avoiding social gatherings of 10 or more people, staying away from public spaces including restaurants and bars, limiting travel, and staying home for work, if possible.

Hutchinson only has limited options for schools. Those options would be to either set another deadline to reopen before the school year ends, to continue off-site instruction until the end of the school year, or to end the school year early.