TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Even if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis approves the reopening of classrooms, Leon County Schools is leaving it up to parents to decide how their kids will attend schools this August.
Parents will have three choices: in-person classes, Florida Virtual School, and the Leon County Digital Academy where students can still learn from teachers at their own school.
Sarah Sims, whose son Taylor is a student at Canopy Oaks Elementary school, says there's much risk involved in going back.
Sims says while last semester wasn't perfect because the pandemic, she'd still rather keep her child taking classes online than put them at risk for the coronavirus.
"Even though my child is healthy, meaning my youngest, that doesn't mean they won't bring it back," said Sims.
LCS is releasing a survey Thursday to take a "temperature check" of how parents feel about the next school year.
The survey will ask questions like, how does your child access the internet, what school did they attend ,and if they'd be up for taking classes online.
Superintendent Rocky Hanna says they want to be prepared.
"I'm optimistic the governor is going to say, across the state of Florida, schools are back open, schools are back in session," Hanna said.
Teachers from the district will be trained to teach students online for the following semester. Those people will not be returning to in-person classes for that time period.
If a student changes their mind about distance learning, they would have the option to go back the following semester.
Griffin Middle School teacher Christen Ellrich says she supports the new changes.
"I just want to do my best," said Ellrich. "I worked really hard to understand the online component, but it's been hard because I miss my students. I miss my students everyday."
Sims says she understands the pressure they're under.
"It's going to continue to be a learning curve and we just have to have patience," said Sims. "We have to have patience. The parents, the teachers the principals, the school board. Everybody has to just work together and hang on."
The survey is live on their website now and will be available until next Friday, June 12, at 12 p.m. If you have multiple children attending Leon County schools, fill it out once for each student.
You can also access the Leon County Schools Parents Survey of 2020-2021 School Year Intentions survey by clicking here.
