REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — No buses pulled up outside French Run Elementary on Thursday.
No students walked the halls. No classroom chairs were sat in. Books on the shelves lie still; their pages unturned. All because it was the school’s turn to deal with short staffing.
“This is our first day where we have been virtual,” Principal David Schottner said.
Because of the district’s lack of bus drivers, Schottner said knowing this day was a possibility and knowing not all families have access to the internet, teachers sent home learning kits from paper and pencil activities to math manipulatives.
“Whatever the teachers think that the students need to be successful for this day,” Schottner said. “So, basically, they are continuing their learning, whatever they’ve been doing in class this week, today is a time to practice that.”
The district says already this year five different schools have had to be placed on remote learning. It says those schools chosen are based off of the bus routes most impacted by shortages. But, the district says by having one school go remote, it frees up 12 other bus routes.
“It trickles down,” 10TV Reporter Bryant Somerville said to Schottner. “It goes from the schools, to the students, to the parents of these students and the guardians of these students. Is this an inconvenience for these students and their families?”
“I would imagine it is an inconvenience for the families,” Schottner said. “And, we appreciate their partnership so much.”
The school provided breakfast and lunch for students who could get to school to pick up the meals. Schottner says additional programs like Children’s Hunger Alliance, where boxes of meals and snacks are sent home every week for those who need it, are helping to feed those students who rely on meals from the district.
As for the teachers, Schottner says all they can do is prepare themselves and their students knowing remote learning days might not end anytime soon.
“So, this is kind of like when we have to do it we’re prepared, but a regular school day with kids is our preference,” he said.