Last Minute Scramble As More Districts Prepare For Distance Learning

LODI (CBS13) — It may be a nerve-racking weekend with a looming countdown to distance learning. Several districts will kick off online classes on August 10, but not without many feeling unprepared.

Kat Ellis teaches second grade at Live Oak Elementary School in Lodi. Like many other districts, teachers and parents sat in limbo waiting for the district to make the call to go full distance learning, which Ellis didn't think was even a question during a pandemic.

"Students can't go into school and keep social distance. I have students who pick their nose right in front of me and put it on another student," said Ellis.

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But while Ellis was glad district officials chose distance learning, then came the rush to get ready for an entirely new way of teaching.

"Our job is to be prepared. We're supposed to be modeling how to structure your day and how to be an adult. And when we are not given the tools to properly do that, it can be really frustrating because we're not able to do our job," said Ellis.

Ellis is not the only one feeling the rush. In Modesto, more than a dozen districts lost internet access on Friday, their last planning day before school starts Monday. That came after some only had three planning days to start with.

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Lisa McBride, a Lodi mom and retired teacher, has been on social media trying to calm nerves and urging everyone to have grace.

"Every teacher on the planet was not trained for this. They're just doing it and they're doing their best and that's what we all have to do," said McBride.