HAZLETON, Pa. — One of the largest school districts in our area has a plan for the start of the school year, but the plan doesn't include getting back into the classroom right away.
Many of the kids we spoke say that while they'll miss the social aspect of school, they understand why it's important to start with classes at home.
"I wish we were going back because I'm going to miss my friends, but I think it's safer that were not going back because of like the amount of people that are in the high school," said freshman Jenna Merrick.
That's the response from many Hazleton Area High School students who are getting ready to get back to school.
About 12,000 Hazleton Area students are set to start classes on September 8, with all classes being online.
The district will monitor the number of coronavirus cases in Luzerne, Carbon, and Schuylkill Counties to determine when it's safe to start bringing students back to the classroom.
Hazleton Area Superintendent Brian Uplinger says going online was not an easy decision.
"This is not what K-12 education looks like, you know, we have always prided ourselves on having the student in front of us, with us," said Uplinger.
While the school year will look a lot different, some high school students say learning online is much harder than learning in person.
"For me, I remember when we got out of school like around March, and we went back, we did the ingenuity and stuff I know the online going to be different, but I just remember it was harder to learn," said freshman Grace Guza.
To combat this problem, school officials say the district is working with new software that will allow students to virtually interact with their teachers when they need to.
"We are completely dedicated to making sure all of our students are learning at 100 percent or somewhere close that they're ready to come back when everybody else is ready to come back," Uplinger said.
Uplinger adds that he knows there are going to be a lot of questions and kinks to work through when students get back, and he is asking that parents be patient while the district works through them.