Everyone has opinions on how they think school should start up, this is mine.

We usually are Back to School shopping right now, this year is a little different. I haven't even thought of Back to School shopping, yet.

This week we received my daughter's schedule for Central Regional School District's plan for opening school. It's something I was dreading, wondering how most schools would do this. Several school districts put out their schedule for opening schools this week and I heard from a lot of my Mom friends. We're all thinking the same thing, this is confusing.

Abby's school is doing every other day, one day in school, the next day virtual (school from home and computer). They are on a half day schedule and no lunch in school. For the high school they will be out by 12:00 pm. Also, our district is splitting the school days up by the alphabet. So, A - L students with their last name will go one day and M - Z will go to school the next day. On the schedule it reads that there will be be one hour of virtual teaching. Here's the confusing part. If you decide to keep your child home and do virtual school per the schedule, they're only getting one hour of virtual school? This is where it gets confusing. It is helpful our school district does have meeting times set up for any question I might have as a parent and other schools I believe are having meetings or town hall meetings to help.

The questions I've heard and received from Ocean County Moms:

If my child does virtual school, can they be in sports?

How will my child get back to the sports practice after a half day?

Will masks be warn all day?

How about buses? If a child tests positive and is on the school bus, will everyone on that bus be quarantined?

Will my child's temperature be taken everyday?

What happens if one child gets Covid-19, will the school be shutdown?

If one child in a class room tests positive will the whole class have to quarantine?

Can my child bring a snack to school? A water bottle?

These are just some of the emails and phone calls I've received, I'd love to know some answers to these questions. I've heard so many questions, through emails and phone calls, and I wish I'd have the answers for you, but I don't. I'm not even sure schools have the answers right now. I think they're just trying to do the best they can.

This is my opinion...I'm a Mom of a 14 year old and this is what I would like to see with her school...

I feel virtual school is the best way to open school this year. Teachers could go into school and teach in their class room and their classes can zoom and they can teach for their 90 minutes right from their class room. It would be great if there was an aid in the class that could help any student that might be having a little bit of trouble. It would be safe for the teachers and the students. I wish schools and I believe some schools in our area have computers or an iPad for the students and if there was a way to make sure there is WiFi in their homes. My reasoning for this "if" a student gets the coronavirus, won't the whole school shut down anyway? It's just like sports, if one student gets Covid, it seems the sports season is shut-down for most schools. So, why not just stop it to start with. The safety of our children and family is the most important thing right now. It's not just students, what about the teachers? I know so many teachers that want to be back in the class room but are incredibly scared to bring something home to their family. I originally thought that once the kids get into the class room they would be able to maybe take their masks off, but we received word from the school to start practicing now with our children to wear their masks for a long period of time. Abby's age can handle it, but what about the little ones? It's just so up in the air right now, there are no answers. I just wish all districts would stick to a virtual schedule to start the year, give it 90 days, and let's see what happens. Yes, there might not be sports right now in the school year, guess what, that's OK. I just want to keep my family healthy. Believe me, my Abby loves school, loves her friends, and she would hate to do school virtually, but this one day on one day off stuff and then virtual one day is a bit much. And then a ride back to school later in the day for sports or extra clubs at the school, it's just too much.

We just have to hope and pray that we can stay healthy and safe and everyone at home can stay that way, too. We will get through this together, Moms and Dads united and we have to believe in what our kids teachers and schools think. In the end, it's our decision as parents to make the right decision for our children and our family.

Sue Moll
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