KANSAS CITY, Mo. — District leaders with Lawrence Public Schools said the plans for students in the fall is a work in progress. But one of surveys sent out last month showed that 68 percent of parents are "concerned" or "very concerned" about their children returning to the classroom.
Now, the conversation of what classes will look like next month is heating up in Lawrence.
"There are good things with going back, but it's just the health risks just outweigh everything," Miranda Haley, an art teacher with Lawrence Public Schools, told 41 Action News.
Special education teacher Megan Welch Phillips is one of roughly 50 staff, parents and students who participated in a protest Monday and greeted school board members at district headquarters ahead of the Board of Education meeting.
"We don’t need for me to ping-pong back and forth between the classroom and our houses," Welch Phillips said. "We can wait until it's safe. And we can make sure that we're learning until it's safe."
It's what the board tried to tackle inside, reviewing 36 slides containing information from a planning task force.
Anna Stubblefield, deputy superintendent for Lawrence Public Schools, said the district "in no way" wants to create an environment that is "pitting teachers versus parents."
"We're in constant communication with the health department," Stubblefield said.
The district, like others in the state, will adjust to reflect what Gov. Laura Kelly announces on Wednesday regarding her education plan.
"Kids are thinking, 'I want to go back to school.' They're picturing what they knew. That's not what they're going back to," Kim Jennings, a school counselor, said. "It just seems like a huge gamble to take with our kids, with our kids."
