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The fact that the state is ending the mask mandates in schools and parkland said oh we will do whatever the state does and now their gonna continue the mask mandates when a maskless Florida has close to no covid cases. Wake up

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Hybrid
The amount of tears, frustration and sadness from my children is overwhelming.  We need to do what is right for everyone and have our kids in school full time.

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My daughter is in second grade. She loved school in kindergarten and first grade. Now she doesn't even want to go to school on her in school days. She works on her online days by herself at daycare. She is 7 she shouldn't be doing school work by herself. I work full time and am a single mother of 4. I just do not have to time to help her with her work. She lacks the motivation she previously had. It is sad that my daughter has lost interest in school at the age of 7. She has had to have counseling because it is affecting her that much not having the normal socialization for kids her age. My son is about to start kindergarten in the fall and he will struggle even more than my daughter is with the online schooling. At this point the hospitals are no longer overwhelmed and I feel the school is doing a great job of reducing the spread of covid that at this point, resuming face to face instruction should be considered.

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Daily BATTLEGROUND.  This is what my house looks like.  Two full-time working parents.  My son lives the life of a vampire.  Stays up late, wakes up late because he has nothing to wake up for.  It is a DAILY BATTLE to keep my son off of his phone, off of his video games, engaged in LIVING in the actual world!  He is getting good grades because he does what he has to do, but how is this lifestyle preparing him for college?  For the real world?  Do you know that there are students who are MAKING MONEY by selling homework assignments, selling answers to tests and screenshots of tests?  This is NOT the education we hoped we would get when we moved into Parkland!  We can't get these years back for our kids.  Other schools are taking STEPS to re-open.  What steps is Parkland taking?

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I have only had one bad experience with an art teacher who won't accept my son's assignments through his phone because he has a cheap phone that can't crop the work she wants him to do.. over the hybrid it is even hard to get my son to get on the computer most days.he is 12 years old

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First of all I would like to start off by saying how extremely grateful I am for everything my children's teachers have done this year in the hybrid learning model.  I know other parents may say something different, however our experience with our teachers has been positive.  That being said though there's an obvious deficit between quality of in-person learning full-time and part-time hybrid learning.  Our teachers are doing the best job with the tools they have been given, but nothing can replace the quality of education full-time in person can provide.  One of my children is in first grade and it is a full-time job on its own trying to keep him focused and on task.  This is in addition to my husband and I's own jobs.  It's not possible to do a good job at any of this as a parent right now when we are wearing so many hats.  We are not teachers but this pandemic has thrust us into multiple roles that we have never had to serve in before.... Counselor, teacher, food service worker just to name a few on top of our typical roles with our children as their parents... We are their safe place and like it or not we have become their everything during a time of a lot of unknowns.

I wish you could see the amount of tears that my children have cried in the last year....how happy they are on days that they get to go to school and see their friends and teachers...The tears of frustration at the exhaustion of all the screens.  The mental health problems that I process with them on a DAILY basis... I will gladly do what I have to do to serve my children and care for their needs, however when I look around at so many districts across the country who have remained open including some locally in our area that are doing an amazing job I have to question why we are still doing this and why full-time in person is not an option?  I get that we are in an area of substantial spread but what I don't get is why these same schools are also in areas of substantial spread and they have had less covid cases in their elementary schools??  My guess is that it is due to how many more touch points our hybrid students have.... They go from school, to after care, to daycare, and potentially running around with neighborhood friends on their days at home.... Versus those schools that are open full time and those students are in school and potentially have one other more frequent touch point of aftercare.  We are watching how successful having children especially elementary students in school full-time across the country has been...WHY ARE THEY STILL HYBRID?? Don't Tell us it's because we can't distance 6 many of these schools who are doing a successfully are not all quite at 6 ft distanced either and still doing fine.  I know teachers who work in these districts who can confirm that.  If parents in Parkland do not want their child in school then they have a virtual option to take advantage of.  As for the rest of us we would like a full-time in-person option.  We don't want to hear anymore that we are in an area of substantial spread... So are many other schools and they are doing this successfully...open up the schools!

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All I can say is that every day has been a struggle in one way or another. We choose hybrid to allow my children to socialize. Other than that essential aspect, we are very disappointed with the hybrid model. There is no consistency, no oversight, and, sadly, no ingenuity. One teacher does so much and goes above and beyond. The other teacher does the bare minimum. One child gives writing assignments, packets sent home, etc. The other (a 4th grader) has not had one homework assignment all year so far. How can this be well done if there is no one to oversee the instruction? Every day my children pray that COVID is over so they can play with their friends. How sad is that? Everyday my children cry because they do not want to do computer work. Everyday is a struggle and a meltdown because they do not want to do this all day. Everyday is a struggle to balance working full time jobs with teaching children three days a week (we have no outside help). Parents are stressed! This model is NOT okay. Nothing about this is okay.

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We are parents of two high schoolers (9th and 11th) in the hybrid program. The consistent messaging we hear from our students is we “aren’t learning anything”.  The majority of the “instruction” is merely just checking a box, completing a task and moving on. There is a noticeable decrease in actual learning. When they are in school, it’s still very much like they are learning on line. My students say repeatedly that there really isn’t any point in going into school. We continue to keep them in hybrid just so they have some structure and schedule to leave the home and actually “learn” outside of their bedrooms. I have a freshmen who doesn’t even feel like he’s a part of the high school experience and a junior that is already worried that she will be robbed of her senior year, making her the third senior class that would lose out on important life experiences that they will never get back. There is no doubt this current instruction environment is impacting those with younger students but my older students are running out of time and I fear they will be the last to go back. Keeping them out of school is doing nothing to contain the spread. Instead on their remote days they are working, going to the gym, shopping, going out to eat....largely because they have so much free time. It is inexcusable that schools all across the country and large school districts like Parkland even here in PA are open full time while our supposedly highly rated district flounders in hybrid. Our teachers and students are doing the best as they can. It’s time to reward them with less excuses and more effort to return to full time in-person learning.  Schools have been proving it can be done since August.

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Teachers, Parents and Kids are Awesome! 

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Teachers, Parents and Kids are Awesome! 

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The hybrid model has not been easy by any means. My child does not like it as it is difficult to get the work done efficiently. We should have a choice. 5 days or online. Saying that, I would just like to give a shout out to the parents, teachers and especially the kids who have been rockstars through this entire pandemic.

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I think we need to consider the progressive lack of motivation that completing basically homework all the time is having on the kids. My 11 th grader is currently at risk for summer school due to the complexity of the higher level classes in a virtual environment- specifically calculus, but others as well. Imagine getting a “list” of homework assignments every morning to do on your own. My son is now feeling defeated. I don’t know exactly what the teachers are- or are not doing but I imagine there a large difference between teachers in their ability to engage students on an online platform. I have reached out to teachers and guidance and I’m now just at the point that there is nothing else to do. I wish the kids could be in school and I personally feel the science shows there is no rationale for not holding school 5 days a week. We are also considering a charter school or private school. Of course students who are sick need to stay home but healthy students should have the ability to attend school full time. I was so close at the end of the marking period transferring my 11 th grader so he could have a more engaging experience.

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My daughter enjoys her in school days. The days she is online are just horrible. As a kindergartener she should be enjoying school, meeting friends, not getting upset about doing her online classes

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Elementary School Hybrid/Middle School Hybrid.
My sons are 10 and 12 and are in 4th grade and 7th grade.  Their teachers are doing an excellent job, but this isn't fair to the children and to the teachers.  Both of my sons are excelling academically, but emotionally this has really taken a toll on them.  They both miss being in school full-time.  They miss seeing their friends and teachers every school day.  My 4th grade son said, "Mommy, I do not know how much longer I can do this.  School isn't fun anymore.  It's so sad, which makes me feel sad.  I can't be close to my friends.  I like going to school, but I miss how it used to be.  I missed the Halloween parade and party this school year.  I miss the Valentine's Day Party.  I miss field trips and fun assemblies.  I miss seeing all of the teachers being happy.  My teacher makes me happy, but I can tell that she seems sad.  I hate being on the computer all of the time.  I hate wearing a mask because it gives me a headache and makes me feel scared."  These words broke my heart.  I understand that this situation is very difficult and that all of the staff are doing the best that they can with this situation, but my sons need to go back to school.  They want to go back to how it was.  I had to leave subbing at Parkland, which was a job that I loved so much to help my sons at home with their schoolwork.  Possibly planning on not opening full-time next school year is unacceptable.  My sons need to be back in school and I need to get back to work.  You keep complaining about a substitute shortage.  If you open up full-time, I will happily return and I know other parents who would apply too, but can't because our children will always come first and need us right now.  Please consider opening up.  I can't see my sons like this anymore.  They're so sad, which makes me sad.

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Most of the time, in forums such as these, we only hear from those that are unhappy. The “happy” have less of a reason to be vocal. I wanted to thank the Parkland School District for putting the health and safety of my child, other children, and the families exposed to them first. I feel comfortable sending my child to school ONLY because I know the exposure to others is limited, which is only possible due to the hybrid learning model and due to the number of families taking advantage of the remote option, leaving space in the classroom for my child to learn while remaining socially distant in accordance to CDC guidelines, as well as the district’s health and safety plan. I lost my father to COVID in December, and I only hope that those who have not experienced the loss of a loved one to this terrible virus do not ever experience that pain. Knowing my child’s safety comes first is paramount to our feeling comfortable in continuing to send him in to school on the hybrid model. We, as many others are, are full time working parents. My child has to spend his remote learning days with his grandmother, and we only hope that the safety measures being taken in the Parkland School District keep her safe from being exposed to anything my son may come into contact with while at school. Obviously this isn’t an ideal learning environment. But none of us are living ideal lives right now, and there are hundreds of thousands of people who have had their lives taken from them altogether. No one is suggesting that school districts adopt these measures forever, but our family is thankful that they have adopted them for now. School districts can NEVER make everyone happy. No matter what decision they make, someone will have a problem with it. I am thankful that the Parkland School District recognizes that in order for my child to learn, he must be alive, and have parents and grandparents who are alive and well at home to support his learning. Our family learned the hard way that this isn’t a given. We hope that no other child has to learn the lesson of loss in order to learn the lessons of reading and math. We’ll return to “normal” someday. For now, I thank Parkland for prioritizing my child’s life.

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The in person days are great. My child enjoys seeing her friends, teachers and actually learns. She practices her hand writing, reading, phonics skills, addition, subtraction... etc.  She can ask questions if she needs to. Learning is fun!
Online days are not great for her as she would say.  Wednesdays she probably gets a total of an hour and a half of learning. Thursdays and Fridays she gets a total of 20 minutes because the teacher sees the other group. The teacher offers assistance at 3:30 if the students need additional help but that usually doesn’t happen as it is the end of the day and parents pick up their kids from daycare at that time. That is a total of about three hours for three days. Like other parents, I try to find different things to do with her. Usually in the evening after work but at this point she is tired. A lot of the online work is busy work. Worksheets, videos, writing, reading. Some of it sounds great, but being in first grade, how much of this can they do on their own?
My child missed the end of kindergarten and now only getting a half of education in first grade. All of those key skills that you are supposed to know were “half” taught.  The curriculum just keeps moving along but yet none of it is getting taught how it should. Students are falling further and further behind.
Like other parents, I can’t take another year of this as I am scared what may happen. I am looking into private schools. My daughter cries at times, sad and now even hates the snow because she misses her inperson days. What child says they hate snow?!! Students/schools have the lowest spread but yet have suffered the most. They need to be back five days. They need structure, socialization, activities, direction.

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My husband and I have 4 children in elementary and 1 in high school. My children in elementary have various experiences. For my kindergartener he’s not receiving an education as far as I’m concerned. He gets one morning meeting for 10 minutes followed by some YouTube Videos and a couple of assignments-all of which take about an hour in total. I’m providing supplemental materials to ensure that he is learning and making adequate progress. My other children receive about 2-3 hours of work in total (including live lessons). They are getting increasingly more “bored” with learning from a screen and it’s affecting their overall motivation. My 1st grader often cries because he doesn’t want to do the work and is developing a strong distaste for school. My 5th grader hates the “busy work” and feels a disconnect between himself, his teachers and classmates which is taking an emotional toll on him as well.

High school is a complete mess. In the beginning my 9th grader had mostly asynchronous learning where he was expected to teach himself and complete a ridiculous amount of assignments. I’ve reached out numerous times expressing concerns over the complete disconnect and it sadly fell on deaf ears. My son couldn’t keep up with the workload and his overall motivation decreased to the point that he would cry out of frustration. He was suspended from sports which took a huge toll on him. Reaching out to all entities didn’t help. We finally had a meeting in which they handed me an evaluation for Special Education (something my son never needed). The blame is always placed on the kids and there’s a lack of consideration for their overall mental well being. Our overall experience has been awful, I’m sad for my son and his future as a result of his experience with hybrid learning. I question the expertise of the professionals designing these flawed systems and them turning a blind eye to the problems that are affecting so many PHS students.

My husband and I have decided to explore parochial school for my younger children and charter for my oldest. We’ve also considered moving after the experience we’ve had thus far. I don’t want to subject my children to the current conditions within the Parkland School District. The district pushes on like everything is “normal” and sadly ignores the silent cries from their students and pleas from their families. Parkland can do better.

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My son has expressed frustration on several occasions about not being in a classroom to learn.  My frustration as a parent is that if they cannot be in school FT, their education online should be FT.  A few hours (sometimes not even that) in a day is just not enough.  These kids need structure, direction, and socialization.   THEY NEED THE EDUCATION THEY DESERVE to thrive! We as parents have started to explore other options such as parochial and private school.  It saddens me that as a parent I am forced to look into costly alternatives so that my child does not suffer the consequences that come with not being in a classroom setting for so long.  My hope is that Parkland makes the decision to get these kids back to the classroom FT, where they can begin to make up for lost time; but if that does not happen we will pull our son and move to the best option for him which is to be educated on a FT basis in a school setting.

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My daughter just turned 5 in December. She is excited to go to school next year. However, as a parent I have nothing but concerns about her attending school. Teachers are doing an amazing job given the circumstances, but we all know that this is not the best learning environment for any student. Our children have been faced with a lot over the past year. When looking at other states and even other local districts, I see conversations and dialogues happen. I do not see that in this district. There is no plan as to how to open up. The idea that it is possible for hybrid to continue for another school year is absurd. There needs to be a way to get children back into schools. Tents outside, modular units, local churches. Let's call upon the community for help and support. We are all invested in our children, but it seems that this school district no longer is. I have registered her for private school and charter school for next school year. She will attend a school that allows her to go in person 5 days week.

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My husband and I have two kids in school this year, 2nd grade and kindergarten.  They go to school 2 days and at home learning the other 3 days.  Every other week they go to their grandmothers house because like many other families we both have to work.  I get calls throughout the day asking questions about how to get onto a link or why something isn’t working.  I get asked to come home on my lunch break because one of them is frustrated and upset.  We have days where they spent “school hours” attempting to get their work done and additional hours from 4-6 pm trying to finish up school work that couldn’t be completed, sometimes later if they have gymnastics that night.   We then go weeks where Thursday and Friday work is done before lunch time.  My 2nd grader gets so upset that she can’t understand something and just ask her teacher she calls herself dumb and stupid. And that she will never learn anything because you can’t learn on zoom, and she’s partially right! By the time the zoom lesson is done and she has questions they are ending the meeting because the teacher has to move on with the students in class.  No parent should have to listen to their child call themselves stupid and dumb and cry over school work.  My kindergartener is going to be in for a shock when she starts going to school full time everyday; she cannot understand that there are more kids in her class than she sees. She hasn’t had the proper amount of time learning to become a better reader and writer.  My husband and I have spent so much more money and time than we have getting her more and more materials to be a good reader. All she wants to do is learn to read a book by herself and the struggle for her is too real. This school district which use to pride themselves in being the best is turning into a political joke.  No reason why daycares can have kids learning and catholic schools open five days a week and a public school cannot.

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My 11 year old daughter learns 3 days a week at home with no adult at home to support her.  We are in the midst of scheduling 7th grade classes, and she recently shared that she doesn't want to go to 7th grade because she didn't even get to go to 6th grade yet!  During the school day, she has little to no interaction with others and minimal support when she is frustrated and in need of assistance because she has two "essential" working parents.  She has been suffering from regular migraines since September due to all of the screen time and has 4 new medications as a result.  Like many other families, we have started to consider private and parochial schools who have been in-person 5 days a week. This is not what anyone wants, but our priorities have to shift to what is socially and emotionally appropriate for our children!