APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Appleton Area School District is doing what it can to help families prepare for a virtual start to the fall.
But some parents say they’re not ready for their homes to become classrooms.
“I don’t know how I can have a plan when Appleton doesn’t even have a plan,” Appleton parent Amber McGinley said.
McGinley is like many Appleton parents, trying to rearrange their lives, as their kids get set to learn from home.
Christopher Huff is another. He tells FOX 11…
“I’m worried about losing it. I can tell my boss was upset that I have to go down to part time, and it’s not 100% yet what’s going on, even at my job.”
Appleton Schools recently sent out a virtual/online learning guidebook to help parents navigate some of the issues learning from home can bring. But some parents say the release of the online schedule did very little to ease their worries and, if anything, it only raised new concerns.
“It doesn’t work with all of our schedules and our availability, and internet connection, and working from home,” McGinley said. “There’s a lot of different variables in each family that it doesn’t work for.”
McGinley opposes the district’s decision to start the school year fully online. She tells FOX 11 her child’s new schedule will be like taking on a whole new job.
“A lot of us took it as we now need to be the secretaries, and teachers, and track their attendance through Infinite Campus, when our understanding is this was gonna be all done through this new program of theirs.”
Huff says he feels the same responsibility and pressure.
“I have no idea what I’m doing, you know, I’m not a teacher! I’m working full-time in a completely different field, and now I have to do both.”
Internet is a separate issue entirely, but one that concerns a lot of parents, like McGinley.
“They can’t be on any electronic devices when I’m working from home at all! At all! At all ! It messes up the system that much.”
And while there is now help provided by the district on how to go about this all-virtual method, McGinley and Huff say they would’ve liked to have been given a choice.
Appleton’s original proposal was to have all students learning in-person, for at least part of the week.
The school board voted for a fully virtual start to the year, last week.
Comments