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LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – For parents, knowing their kids will be going to school online doesn’t answer all of their questions.
“Not knowing what could happen in the next six weeks, it’s hard,” said Jesi Denton. “It’s hard to not know, what if our jobs don’t help us out with the fact that we have kids that we have to teach now. What happens if we lose our jobs because of it. The unknown, it’s really stressful.”
Jesi Denton has a daughter in middle school, who may end up coming to work with her and taking her classes in an extra office.
“Which is not ideal but for working parents you don’t really have a choice,” Denton said.
Parents aren’t the only ones making adjustments. The YMCA tells WKYT’s Victor Puente that they’d normally be preparing their after school programs right now. Instead, they’re about to start registration for all day programs where kindergarten through eighth grade students can spend the day doing their classes online, as well as learning in person.
Those programs start August 26.
“We’ve opened our registrations for the first about six weeks,” said Jessica Berry with the YMCA. “Because we are trying to align with the calendar that Fayette county put out. Although we are serving counties and other students in other counties as well.”
They’ve got room for 175 students. They could fit more in their facilities, but the very virus that means the program is needed is the same one that will limit how many kids they can take.
They had similar limits in place during their summer camps.
“Our Beaumont location could typically serve 200 kids. Our capacity was 80,” Berry said.
For parents and those watching the kids, the next few months will be pretty fluid.
“Fortunately I do have a job but if I have to it’s OK for me to bring my kids, but some people don’t have that option and it just breaks my heart for those people because some people also don’t have an option, they have to work in order to put food on the table for their children,” Denton said. “It it breaks my heart they’re even having to be faced with this kind of issue.”
The registration for that YMCA program starts Wednesday. They say they’re looking for additional facilities to expand that program.
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