COVID-19 surge has more parents, students looking to virtual school

On July 26, 990 students were enrolled in Lee Virtual School. A week and a half later, that number jumped to 1,064. Lee Virtual School has been an option for several years, but not many people utilized it before the pandemic.

In the 2018/2019 school year, 340 students were enrolled with Lee Virtual School. The next year, it was about the same, with 355 students. Then the pandemic hit and that number went up to more than 5,000.

Of course, there are plenty of kids that plan to show up in person next week for school.
WINK News talked to one parent who says she and her daughter are willing to risk getting COVID-19 if it means in-person learning.

“If she gets it, unfortunately that is something we will have to deal with when it comes,” said Jennifer Parrott. “She intends to wear a mask while she is at school, anyway, although it is optional, so hopefully that will help avoid that a little bit, but… we’ll see.”

Mask wearing is causing some parents concern. Since masks are not mandatory, they wonder how many kids and teachers will wear them in the classroom.

Parents with children enrolled in Lee Virtual School can pick up their Chromebook laptops Friday. The deadline to sign up for Lee Virtual School was July 15, but you can still apply for a waiver. It will take 3 to 4 business days to get the application but when we tried– it only took a few hours. Students are also going to need a strong Wi-Fi connection, and a hot spot on a phone just won’t do it.

That’s where the Lee County Library System comes into play. The library system partners with parents and teachers and librarians say they have safe and clean spaces for learning.

“We know a lot of kids continue to do virtual school this year, and so we have great Wi-Fi at all of our buildings, we have quiet study spaces and computers, so we are really here for any type of schooling that people are doing right now and supporting their research needs,” said Melissa Baker with the Lee County Library System.