ANDERSON, Ind. — Anderson school students will be back in their classrooms three weeks sooner than they planned. The school board approved the change in a split vote.
"E-learning works for some. It does not work for everybody. We have students who are not great virtual learners," said Anderson Community Schools Board President Pat Hill. He voted in favor of getting students back in school sooner than later.
"At this point, we are safe enough, and we have the process in place for them to be safe," Hill said.
Teachers leading classes online are split said Randy Harrison, president of Anderson Federation of Teachers Local 519, with a lot of teachers agreeing with the move.
"But at the same time, we got 50 percent that don't feel it's the safest thing to do," Harrison said.
Harrison claims classrooms just aren't big enough to practice adequate social distancing and would put kids and teachers in danger.
Custodians are already working on the problem, according to interim superintendent Dr. Joseph Cronk.
"We have been doing a lot of work since last spring," Cronk said. "We have a lot of work to complete."
Custodians are clearing classrooms of unnecessary furniture and decorative items while other preparations are being finalized.
"We have to make a run throughout transportation procedures, our cafeteria procedures and our hallway procedures," Cronk said.
There isn't much practice time. Pre-K through 4th grade students return to their schools Sept. 28. Then, 5th through 12th graders return with a hybrid system of in-person and virtual learning. The plan is to have everybody back at their desks by mid-October.
Hill knows it will be difficult.
"Yes, teachers are going to be nervous," he said "Yes, parents will be nervous about (kids) coming back to the classroom."
Parents have the option of keeping their children at home. Anderson school administrators figure 20 percent of families — that's one in five — will stick with e-learning.