Jefferson City families talk about first day back to virtual learning for secondary students

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

As the Jefferson City School District battles a staffing crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic, middle and high school students moved online until after Thanksgiving break Monday.

The district announced the move last Wednesday. The district said teachers dealing with illness and quarantine and a lack of substitute teachers are creating the issue.

A spokeswoman for the district said last week she hopes this will allow any secondary education staff who aren't teaching distance learning to cover some of the absences at the elementary level, hoping to alleviate some of the strain of staffing in those buildings.

On Monday, the district reported 8 new cases of the virus among staff and students. Three students were also asked to quarantine. Since the start of the school year, 347 cases of COVID-19 have been found in the district, with 492 being asked the quarantine because of exposure.

This is the second time middle schools have had to go online because of the same issues. A parent of a middle school student Jon Schwartz said this time around is harder than the first for his student, and worries about a lack of consistency in his learning.

"With already going through this one time and having to readjust to all of that and now having to go through it all over again, I think makes it hard on him," Schwartz said.

For online learning, students are following their bell schedule they have been using, but now it is at home. Schwartz said this has worked out pretty well for his family.

The district hopes to get students back in the classroom on Nov. 30, after Thanksgiving break, which Schwartz believed was concerned that things will just continue to get worse going back.

"I don't want to keep going back for two weeks and then stopping and having to go back to virtual learning," Schwartz said. "I would like for them to either said we aren't going to go or we are going to go."

Jefferson City High School Sophomore Jillian Wells said things went smoothly during the first day of virtual learning. She said her teachers were prepared and they followed the bell schedule.

While she thinks it's working for now, she said an inconsistent learning method might be hard.

"It would be weird always not having the constant of this is what we are going to do every day," Jillian said. "It's just weird if we do have to switch from online to in-person, not knowing what is going to happen."

Her mother Jennie Wells agreed that things went well for both Jillian and her 8th-grade student Connor. She said at first neither of her students wanted to be at home.

As for heading back to the classroom after Thanksgiving, she questioned going back after people may travel and see family.

"I think it's interesting they chose November 30th to go back, when people might meet with people for Thanksgiving being together, then going back to school and spreading it with everyone," Jennie said. "I guess I'm glad they are anxious to get them back in-seat."

ABC17 News reached out to the district to ask how the first day of virtual learning wenr, and how they are continuing to work on the staffing issue, but did not receive a response.

Watch ABC17 News at 9 and 10 for the full story.