LYNCHBURG, Va. – On Wednesday, Lynchburg City School’s superintendent Dr. Crystal Edwards and members of the ‘Return to Learn Dream Team’ broke down what they’ve been doing these last few months to get students back in the building.
“We need to start somewhere. We need to start with getting our kids back,” Edwards said.
Starting Aug 24, students in Pre-K through 5th grade will be in the classroom for two days with the rest online.
Meanwhile sixth grade through high school students will stay online until Sept. 8.
This date will help give school leaders two weeks to evaluate their process and bring older students back.
Before children can make it back to class, Edwards needs help from parents.
“We are going to require that students who ride the bus wear the mask for the duration that they are on the bus,” Edwards said.
Teachers will be checking temperatures at the schools and not on the bus like some LCS parents would prefer.
“The kids get to school, they fail the test and now that whole bus gets quarantined. Let’s check them on the bus. I love changes like that,” Andrew Glover, an LCS parent, said.
“Temperature dependence on a really, really hot day we may not get an accurate day read or on a really, really cold day we may not get an accurate reading,” Edwards said.
School leaders said buses will be thoroughly cleaned and riding it is optional, but they’ll need to know who wants to get on.
“So, the next round of surveys we’re going to encourage and do our best to get every family to say, ‘Yes, I need a bus transportation,’” Edwards said.
There’s no set date on when the new surveys will go out to parents.
School officials are working on them and parents should get them soon.