KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's a decision weighing heavily parents in Kansas City and across the country — what to do with their kids for the 2020-21 fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic with no vaccine available yet.
"We've been talking about it a lot,” Jamilin Hepworth said Friday when asked how she felt about school reopening plans as she weighs her options for her fourth-grader Parker.
After talking with each other and their son, the Hepworths decided to let Parker make the final decision about whether he'll return to class in-person or attend school virtually this fall, "hich is a lot of pressure, but we've talked about it a lot and he said he feels comfortable deciding,” Jamilin said.
Parker attends school in Lee’s Summit, where parents and students have until Monday to decide based onthe Lee's Summit R-7 School District reopening plan.
Parker is leaning towards staying home.
"I want to be safe and be with my family more than being at school,” he said.
His parents are fortunate to have options.
"I had told him that I'm happy to make that decision for you if you would like me to do it, but he said he felt like it was something he wanted to decide,” Jamilin said. “We're lucky enough that we're in a situation where I'm a stay-at-home mom, so that decision for him to stay home is easier."
Districts across the Kansas City area have released plans for reopening this fall during the last few weeks — including Kansas City Public Schools, which unanimously voted Friday to delay the start of classes until Sept. 8 after a plea from the superintendent and recommendations from health officials for more time.
"There is no way at this point that I can recommend to our board and community that we bring people back into an environment, given the records that are currently being broken here in the Kansas City metro area,” KCPS Superintendent Mark Bedell said.
KCPS plans to begin with 100% online learning and only phase in returning to classes if the numbers of new cases goes down consistently in two-week increments.
