ATLANTA — Atlanta Public School officials have shifted gears going to an all-virtual model to start the school year. Parents are now working to make sure they have childcare all day long.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes spoke with parents and school officials Tuesday about the plan.
Officials told Fernandes that the district made a lot of progress over the summer to provide laptops and access to Wi-Fi, thanks to some sponsorship with different companies.
Erika Miller is a mother of two children in APS and had to become a virtual learning supervisor last semester when schools went online.
She and other parents came to realize how much work the teachers do and how much more work they did to keep kids engaged.
“I’m just really thankful for the teachers,” she said.
Miller hoped the coronavirus would be on a downward trend by now and students could go back to face-to-face learning this fall. But that didn’t happen.
Atlanta Public School board members voted to delay the start of school by two weeks and move to all-virtual learning at least until the end of October.
“I really appreciate Dr. Herring’s decision to delay a little bit so that teachers can get even more savvy with the whole technology thing,” Miller said.
The move to virtual learning has left many parents wondering how they’re going to balance work, childcare and their students’ learning.
Miller said she has a supportive extended family who steps in to help. But for many other parents, she knows it’s going to be more of a struggle to balance work with virtual learning.
“You have to be able to count on your friends and your community. You gotta be able to come together and say ‘I can take this day’ or ‘I can check up on them’ or whatever the case may be to get that done. This is about the safety of our kids,” Miller said.
For parents and students worried about technology, laptops and Wi-Fi equipment are still available. Officials are urging parents to make sure they get everything well before school starts on Aug. 24.
Atlanta is not the only school system to decide on all-virtual learning this fall. DeKalb County will start school on Aug. 17 with all virtual learning.
Clayton County Public Schools initially said it will start the 2020-2021 school year with a mix of virtual learning and face-to-face learning, but has now decided to reopen schools virtually.
Rockdale County will start the year virtually for all students until Labor Day.
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