JACKSONVILLE, Fla — “I don’t feel safe with everything going on," said Christina Perez.
That’s a sentiment we’ve heard many times over. Perez’s son is a sophomore in high school. It feels like sports and parties are a thing of the past and for the Perez family, and so is in-person school.
Joseph is starting Duval HomeRoom on Thursday while thousands of kids return to class. “He wanted to do this on his own," Perez said about her son. "He said 'yeah I want to stay home.' So he’s looking out for every one.”
She explains her husband works out of town on contract and if he got sick, he would be out of work. Their decision to stay virtual is about protecting their health and financial security.
Other parents are making different choices.
“This is my daughter Maggie," said Keri. She did not want to share her last name for privacy reasons.
Her daughter Maggie is starting starts kindergarten during a pandemic. Mom Keri says she goes to a charter school with smaller class sizes. She said she feels safe bringing her child to school.
“We know how social she is and how much she enjoys being around her teachers and her little friends," Keri said.
She says her daughter needs to be in the classroom to thrive, but Keri also knows how it feels to be afraid. Maggie had RSV at six months old. Keri said she’s making an active choice to stay positive in uncertain times.
“In a larger sense, I can’t live in fear," Keri explained.
In a family full of educators, Keri said she's starting the year bringing a gift and supplies like hand sanitizer and water for the teacher and class.
“You have to take it one day at a time. Sometimes, you have to take it 10 minutes at a time," Keri said as advice to parents on the first day back.
While Maggie is beginning her education, Perez says her son is learning about life lessons.
“Well it does make you more independent," Perez said, "“Now he has to step up his game and reach out more and understand it and walk him through it. See it wasn’t that hard?"
Perez says her son Joseph is great on the field and a good student, but now he’s learning how to speak up for himself and ask for help if he needs it. She says there is a lot of freedom and responsibility with online school.
Perez says they've committed to one semester of Duval Homeroom and they do not know yet if they will return to in-person next semester. She said it depends what happens during reopening.