diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1366b03..928b68b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ htmlcov
 docs/_build
 .cache/*
 .pytest_cache/
-.hypothesis/*
+**/.hypothesis/*
 geckodriver.log
 ghostdriver.log
 cove/lib/org-ids.json
diff --git a/lib360dataquality/cove/schema.py b/lib360dataquality/cove/schema.py
index ef8d88f..330ddc9 100644
--- a/lib360dataquality/cove/schema.py
+++ b/lib360dataquality/cove/schema.py
@@ -45,14 +45,24 @@ def __init__(self, data_dir, local_pkg_schema_path=None, local_grant_schema_path
                 self._pkg_schema_obj = json.load(f)
         else:
             pkg_schema_url = urljoin(config["schema_host"], self.pkg_schema_name)
-            self._pkg_schema_obj = get_request(pkg_schema_url).json()
+            try:
+                self._pkg_schema_obj = get_request(pkg_schema_url, force_cache=True).json()
+            except json.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+                raise Exception("Could not parse JSON from package schema") from exc
+            except Exception as exc:
+                raise Exception("Could not fetch package schema") from exc
 
         if local_grant_schema_path:
             with open(local_grant_schema_path) as f:
                 self._schema_obj = json.load(f)
         else:
             schema_url = urljoin(config["schema_host"], self.schema_name)
-            self._schema_obj = get_request(schema_url).json()
+            try:
+                self._schema_obj = get_request(schema_url, force_cache=True).json()
+            except json.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+                raise Exception("Could not parse JSON from grant schema") from exc
+            except Exception as exc:
+                raise Exception("Could not fetch grant schema") from exc
 
         # Update the pkg schema to no longer point to an external reference for the
         # grants schema.