While it's almost time for the official start of the 2020-21 school year, back to school is looking a lot different this year for students across the county.
Carlsbad High School students are among those feeling the effects of changes brought on by a worldwide pandemic. The students arrived on campus Tuesday but didn't sit at desks inside classrooms. Instead, they picked up textbooks and laptops for more learning from home.
San Diego County made it off the state's coronavirus monitoring watch list on Tuesday but it must stay off that list for 14 consecutive days before schools can potentially open for in-person instruction.
Elementary schools can apply for a waiver to have in-person instruction that is not contingent upon the county's status on the state's coronavirus watch list. So far 48 San Diego County schools have applied for the waiver.
So far, no San Diego schools have been approved for in-person instruction so it's back to at-home learning.
Many students who have already experienced what it was like to learn from home last spring weren't very excited about starting the school year online again.
"It’s a lot more difficult because it's harder to stay focused," said Collin McDonnell, a junior at Carlsbad High School.
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"I’d rather be in school just because I just started a new school and I don’t really have many friends there," said Wynn Miller.
While many high schoolers worried about being able to concentrate at home, elementary school parents had the same concerns for their kids.
Cari Inserra's son is in second grade at Dailard Elementary School. They just received an email saying online school hours would be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.., but they're still waiting for specifics about how each class will operate.
"I don’t think for the younger grades that they intend that they're going to be sitting in front of the computer for all those hours, but still it's much longer than I expected," Inserra said.
