LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students in southern Indiana will head back to school in just a few weeks, and the district is already preparing to welcome back students who haven't been in the classroom since March.
One of those students is Liam Wariner, 8, who is soaking up his last few weeks of summer vacation before heading back to Georgetown Elementary School. And that's a decision his mother, Amber did not take lightly.
"I feel like once they start, then we'll have more answers," Wariner said. "I feel like no one really knows what's going on right now."
She left it up to her kids — second-grader Liam and high school freshman Alexis — as to whether they'd return to school in person or learn virtually.
"With all the nerves, I didn't want to put any more pressure on them with me deciding what they're going to do," she said.
Both opted to go back to the classroom, but New Albany-Floyd County Superintendent Dr. Brad Snyder said three weeks out, lots of parents still haven't decided how their kids will learn this school year.
"We really don't know," he said. "We've staffed ourselves like we're going to get 11,600 kids, and we don't know what we're going to get."
With no deadline as to when parents have to decide, that affects things like teacher placement and class sizes. The district plans on being flexible.
"We're always going to accommodate any kid that wants to come to us whenever they want to come to us," Snyder said.
Regardless of how many kids show up on the first day of school, crews are already getting to work to make sure classrooms are ready. That includes using a disinfectant gun to sanitize classrooms and removing water fountains.
"Different things in different buildings with respect to lunch, cafeteria and breakfasting," Snyder said. "Some of our larger enrollment buildings will have to occupy the gymnasium or hallways for lunch purposes."
The district is following guidance provided by the state, which included a recommendation for masks. The district opted to require face coverings. Snyder said that will affect how teachers teach starting day one.
"For example: 'I'd like to work with you now. Would you please put your mask on,'" he said. "Never had to do that technique before."
Snyder said it's a lesson in adapting for everyone.
"The only reassurance that we can give is we're doing the best we can," he said.
School starts July 29.
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