CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Like most parents, Miranda Lindley knows the stress of having a child who is beginning the school year online versus in person.
"The hardest part for us is having a six year old having, her sit still and keep her attention for the 30 minutes it would take on a screen," said Lindley.
Lindley, who has also been working from home because of the pandemic, knows she is one of the luckily ones as she is able to keep an eye on her daughter throughout the school day.
"There's been a couple of kids in Cassidy's class that they have working parents, getting into the virtual Zoom meeting at a set time doesn't work for them, because mom or dad has to work, grandma has to watch the kids," said Lindley.
Another struggle is that some parents might not be as tech savvy as others.
According to a recent report by Future Ready, almost 17 million children in the U.S. didn't have access to high speed internet in 2018 and a little more than 7 million did not have a computer at all.
For parents who lack the tech within CCISD, that is something each district campus is issuing out where needed.
"It's tough, especially in those houses with more than one child where it created a strain," said Jessica Albert who is CCISD's Principal of the Student Support Center.
Albert said there is a team of dedicated staff to provide parents a helping hand who are having difficulty navigating the online learning system.
"A lot of questions we are getting is how to help students gain access to Canvas. We are really walking parents through Canvas to get through the courses they are assigned to," said Albert.
There's actually a parent support hotline, it's (361) 696-4040 extension 10180.
There's also tech support for parents who were issued Chromebooks or a hot spot, you can call (361) 878-3903.
Meanwhile, for parents who are juggling work and making sure the kids are at home learning, local attorney Amie Augenstein with Gale Law Group said there's a relatively new piece of legislation that could help.
It's called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
Augenstein said there are two parts to the act. The first part deals with emergency paid sick leave for employees who are affected by COVID-19 for various reasons. There are various qualifying reasons.
The second part is what she says can quite help parents right now.
It basically provides an employee up to 10 weeks of expanded medical paid leave to care for a child who's place of care or school is closed.
Augenstein said this could help those families who students are learning virtually at home.
"It doesn't provide a full paid leave, but it provides 2/3s of their regular rate of pay. They can stay home and still get paid. Great piece of legislation to help them until schools open back up," Auguenstein said.
Again she said there are various qualifying reasons so do your research and talk to your employer.
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