Reactions were mixed to San Diego Unified’s plan for kids to exclusively distance-learn to kick off classes at the start of the school year, reports NBC 7’s Priya Sridhar.
In a joint statement with Los Angeles Unified School District, San Diego Unified officials said on Monday that countries that have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing -- and that California has neither.
They also said the school year will begin on schedule -- but only via distance learning -- and that online support for parents will be increased to make it easier for them to participate in the education of their children. Students will also receive additional training at the start of the year to make them better "online learners".
Bronwen Borunda has a third-grader and a fifth-grader at Dailard Elementary School. She said that she will be relying on her in-laws for childcare when school starts back up, but she isn't looking forward to having to play the role of teacher once again.
"I’m going to be teaching a whole new subject, and we’re moving forward into a whole new grade now, and I just keep asking God to please keep helping us, because it's going to be a tough one," Borunda said.
Cari Inserra also has a student at Dailard Elementary, in her case, a second-grader. She said she was thankful for San Diego Unified's decision.
"I’m relieved because I think having to make that decision was really challenging," Inserra said. "We have my younger son who has leukemia, so he's high-risk, so we were already struggling with what do we do about the germs."
San Diego Unified officials said they will be giving an update to parents about back-to-school plans on Aug. 10 -- exactly three weeks before classes resume on Aug. 31.
