SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Sarasota County Schools are reopening Monday and parents have a tough decision to make. They can either send their kids back to the classroom or keep them home and do eLearning.
“It's just, it's really tough,” Christy Chilton said. “I need to go back to work, I need to support my family and I feel like they need to be in a proper learning environment, but I don't want to risk or jeopardize their health and safety. So what do you do?”
It's a decision that's weighed heavily on many parents. Christy Chilton is one of them. She has two sons; one going into 6th grade and the other 4th grade.
“We did the whole back to school shopping, getting new backpacks, all the supplies and I really felt, really hopeful,” Chilton said. “I did have concerns of course, but for the most part I was ready to send them to school.”
That was until she had a conversation with one of her son's teachers, who strongly recommended she keep them learning remotely.
“You are responsible for taking care of your family, but neither decision really seems right,” Chilton said. “Do you stay home and not really making the money that you could make or send them into potentially a really dangerous situation health-wise?”
Chilton says both her sons are growing more aware of what COVID-19 is.
“They both told me they were scared, that they don't want to get COVID,” said Chilton, getting choked up.
The decision has taken an emotional toll on Chilton. But for some parents, it was an easy decision.
“My son goes to a charter high school where he is enrolled in the mechanics program and really the only way he can get that hands-on training is to be on campus and be with those instructors,” Kevin Angell said. “So for his mom and I it was really no decision, we need to get him back to the campus to get that hands on learning.
Angell says, even if his son Chris was not in the mechanics program, his decision would be the same.
“We’re just comfortable with the decisions the school district has made here in Sarasota to keep them safe and to go ahead and allow him back to class,” Angell said.
For Petra Ratner that was out of the question for her kindergarten and 5th grade sons.
“We are keeping them at home,” Ratner said. “It's safety for us. We just don't want to risk anything.”
She’s confident her older son can handle learning on the computer.
"Our son Felix is used to doing a lot of virtual stuff,” Ratner said. “We really tried to adapt as best as we can."
They practiced with it all summer, doing virtual camps. They even rearranged their house to get ready for eLearning, especially for their youngest.
“You know making sure that he has the support that he needs because one of us would need to sit there with him, he's five. He's not going to sit and watch five hours of zoom,” Ratner said with a laugh.
The Ratner’s are prepared to become their kids’ second teacher. And believes this is better than the alternative.
“We tried to imagine how would it be to actually send them in; everyone in masks, everyone social distancing. It’s not a positive experience I don’t think,” Ratner said. “On top of that kids love to play, even I have a problem having the mask on for a long time especially in the heat.”
When you look at enrollment numbers, so far 70 percent of Sarasota County parents are choosing to send their kids back to brick and mortar.
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