MILTON, Pa. — It's almost time for students and teachers to head back to school, but many families wonder what exactly that will look like.
The Milton Area School District approved a plan earlier this week.
"We have to be open-minded and be willing to do some things that we've never done before," Dr. Daphne Kirkpatrick said.
Families in the Milton area will have three options when it comes to sending their children back to school.
The first choice is traditional education.
"Students coming to school, wearing a mask, practicing social distancing," Jeremy Stetler said.
The second option is cyber school, which is online only.
The newest option is called "flexible learning." It's a mix of online and in-person classes.
"It allows our students to come in Monday for an algebra class if their family feels that that's appropriate. But if they can do English from home Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we want to breed that in as well," Stetler said.
The district had already provided all 2,300 students with either a tablet or a laptop.
Milton Area District officials say that makes the transition easier.
"It's really about our students and our families. That's what's important to us, that's what drives our work. That's why we come to work every day," Dr. Kirkpatrick said.
Students from age five to high school must wear masks. Classrooms are being arranged for social distancing. Custodians will be cleaning throughout the day.
Families in the Milton Area School District filled out a survey about their comfort levels.
"We also asked them to talk about how things went after March 13th after we transitioned so quickly. So we wanted to know what were some things that really worked, what were some challenged you faced, and what were some challenges your children faced," Dr. Kirkpatrick asked.
District officials say they know COVID-19 could change things quickly, so their plans are flexible.