Lee County schools to transition virtual students back to in-person learning; what to know

The School District of Lee County has made the decision to discontinue Lee Home Connect for the next school year.

“We understand that this may cause concern for families who wish to have their child enrolled in a virtual learning environment, however, Lee Virtual School will continue to be an option.” the district said in an email.

An area of Glenisse Santos’ home became a makeshift classroom during the pandemic. All three of her kids are learning from home with Lee Home Connect.

“Ever since that they have been home for a whole year, they haven’t gotten sick,” Santos said. “They have actually been paying attention more, I’m going to be honest.”

Students who have been learning from home during the school year will automatically be transitioned back to learning face-to-face.

“I didn’t like it,” Santos said.

With two of them having medical conditions, Santos says next year is too soon and too risky.

“I feel more comfortable with my kids being home,” Santos said.

Barbie Sarante told us she had a feeling this would happen and already re-enrolled her daughter into Lee Virtual School for next year.

“With everything that’s going on, you don’t know something like this is going to happen or if there’s going to be another outbreak,” Sarante said. “And do we really want to continue to shake up a little world that she’s in and that she knows? It’s not worth it.”

Santos is taking a page out of Sarante’s book and keeping her at-home classroom for next year. She’s enrolling her children in LVS too.

“I think they are safer with me,” Santos said.

Students currently enrolled in Lee Home Connect will automatically be transitioned back to face-to-face learning at the assigned brick-and-mortar school they attended prior to Lee Home Connect (with the exception of fifth and eighth-graders moving to middle or high school, who will be assigned to their school via our Student Enrollment process).

The district says, if you’re OK with the transition, no action needs to be taken.

If you want to enroll your child into Lee Virtual School for the fall of 2021, you must follow the Lee Virtual School enrollment process. Deadline to enroll is July 15, 2021.

Students currently enrolled in Lee Virtual School who signed up during the 2020-21 school year due to the pandemic, will automatically be transitioned back to face-to-face learning at their assigned brick and mortar school.

The district says, if you’re OK with the transition, in this case too, no action needs to be taken.

If you would like to continue in Lee Virtual School for the fall of 2021, you must follow the Lee Virtual School enrollment process. Deadline to enroll is July 15, 2021.

Students currently enrolled in Lee Virtual School who attended Lee Virtual School prior to the start of the 2020-2021 school year, will remain in Lee Virtual School.

“While we continue to see improvements to public safety in relation to COVID-19, there is still uncertainty of where we will be by the start of the school year,” the district said. “Over the summer The School District of Lee County will continue to assess our health and safety processes and protocols with guidance from our healthcare partners.”