GREENWOOD, Ind. — With the ongoing pandemic, parents in many school districts have options: send their children back to school or choose full-time virtual learning at home. Monday at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline for parents in the Center Grove school district in Johnson County to make that decision.
Kara Cecil is sending her three children back to the classroom. She is a public health professor at UIndy who considered the coronavirus risk versus the best education for her 7th, 5th and 2nd graders.
"The benefit of seeing these students face-to-face and developing that rapport - I teach at UIndy and so I get to know my students and they get to know me. It's not impossible, but it's harder to do that through a virtual format,” said Cecil.
Kayla Mettura is keeping her five children (including three who are school-aged) home, opting for virtual learning because of her husband's heart condition.
"We just looked at our health risk for my husband, and then one of our sons has a heart condition as well,” said Mettura. “We prayed about it, and we also looked at the possibility of school just being ever changing."
Monday’s original noon deadline was extended until midnight for parents to decide if their children return to class or learn online. That commitment is binding for a full semester.
"I know right now there are a lot of parents struggling, trying to make that last-minute decision,” said Center Grove Community School Corporation Superintendent Rich Arkanoff. “We're getting flooded with emails and questions that some of them we just don't have the answers to."
Amanda Bean is sending her kids to Pleasant Grove Elementary School, as long as the classrooms remain open.
"I am not sending my kids thinking that they're going to have smooth sailing this year,” said Bean. “I think that the virus is still a concern, but I'm trusting that there'll be a better case scenario."
The first day of classes at Center Grove is scheduled for Aug. 5.
IPS delays start, reopens opt-in for remote learning
Over the weekend, Indianapolis Public Schools revealed it's delaying the start of school by two weeks until Aug. 17. IPS also reopened the process for parents to choose full-time remote learning. The original deadline was Friday with 8,500 students opting in for online learning. No new deadline has been set, but parents are encouraged to opt-in sooner rather than later.