ATLANTA — Many major school districts have announced they will be fully virtual in the fall and now parents are scrambling to figure out what that will look like.
One big solution has been to form "pods" with other kids in the same grade, where one adult can facilitate virtual learning to four or five students, but will every student have access to that model, and who decides which kid goes to what pod?
As parents want to find the best learning situation for their children, many people are left feeling like they have no good options now that virtual learning is the only choice.
If a parent has to return to work, who can make sure their child gets the education they need when it's all online?
"No one has ever been in this situation. School districts, we've never seen this pandemic before," Ty Lewis, the CEO of Educationally Speaking explained.
Lewis is an educator and runs a tutoring program for children and even she's worried about what school will look like once her husband returns to work in person.
"We have two young children, sometimes my mom is up here and she has dementia, so she's high risk," she explained.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic has turned education on its head, and now more than ever, families need to lean on each other to get through.
A popular idea has been creating learning pods for kids in the same grade.
"When you're forming these villages, you're able to pull the resources from educators and other parents and be able to allow your children to go to a pod. So if you're going to work, your child can go to a different space to learn," she said.
She said most groups are forming online, through Facebook and community organizers but she's worried there will be inequity based on who is able to pay for something like that, and who can't.
Katie Whittelsey runs the nonprofit Education Cures and home school resource Academics Plus and she said she is worried about the same things.
"I've been fearful for our children, just absolutely terrified," she said. "There's already a discrepancy. Whether it's a learning disability, a low-income family, I think we will increase that discrepancy, widen that gap, and it's very scary."
She said parents will have to advocate for their kids now that school will be online.
"It's not going to be up to just our schools or our government or our teachers to solve it. It's going to be up to families to make a difference. So whether you're a teacher or just a mom who cares, this is the time to really jump in and lift up someone else," she said.
Even though everyone is still figuring out what this will look like, Lewis said the school system is hoping for success.
"Everyone on the front line, every teacher, every educator, every administrator, we are rooting for you because we want you to win," Lewis said.
A lot of people are finding these learning pods through their local parenting groups, Facebook friends, or community sites.
Usually, one family will offer to host the pod if they have a parent who is able to supervise, and then the four or five kids will learn from one location.
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