Schools across the country are preparing for what the 2020 school year will look like amid the pandemic. South Bend Community Schools released its plan this week for reopening in the fall but some parents have concerns.
South Bend students have three choices to return to school this fall. Option one is in-person learning. Students and faculty are required to wear face masks for this option. The second and third options are both online, with one offering the ability to switch to in person instruction.
Misty Bailey has a daughter who attends one of South Bend’s schools. She chose one of the virtual learning options because her daughter has type one diabetes.
“I’m really scared because I don’t want her to go back to school because she can easily get sick. So I don’t want her to go back to school and be around a lot of students and then end up getting sick.”
Kaiyra Koelndorfer has a son who attends Clay High School. She opted for virtual learning due to the pandemic but is worried about internet accessibility for other students.
“Really concerned with additional apps that kids might have to use and the difficulty of trying to download and use those for kids without the internet.”
South Bend Schools Superintendent Todd Cummings said he understands the concerns and is taking the input into consideration.
“We understand students are scared, parents are scared," he said. "These are strange times so we want to make sure we make the decision the community wants about how to reopen face-to-face on August 12th”
The school board is expected to vote on finalizing the reopening plan on August 3rd.
Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16
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