HAMPTON, Va. — There's another change in operations within the Hampton City School division.
Officials now plan to only bring back Pre-K and kindergarten students on Wednesday, Nov. 4 as well as select students from all grades with disabilities.
Several protesters for the Red4 Ed organization tell 13News Now they’re glad the division will no longer bring first through third grade and English-language learners back to school buildings at this time.
They still think it’s too soon for face-to-face learning.
Aleta Spencer is a Special Education teacher in Hampton. Spencer said the division announced the update on its website.
“It was a big shift,” said Spencer.
In the post, officials said the reason for this sudden change is “due to the division receiving a significant increase of approved job accommodations, based on medical documentation from instructional staff” in the last 24 hours.
“I feel that more teachers went and got waivers because they knew it wasn’t safe to return to the building,” said Spencer.
Even though Spencer said staffing changes are impacting the community, she hopes people in Hampton know they want to teach kids in person again.
“Doesn’t mean I’m against going back. I will go back just as soon as it's safe to do so,” said Spencer.
Candace Sullivan said she has two sons in the division.
“I would love for my kids to go back to school. Mommy would love to have her days back, but my mental health and my kids' mental health will be okay. We are finding ways to adjust,” said Sullivan.
Yet, Sullivan said her children will continue with online learning for the semester because it's too great of a risk for students, teachers and the community.
“Sending them to school, I feel like it’s just asking to roll the dice," said Sullivan.
Division officials say the students impacted most by this quick change include first through third graders, sixth graders, and PreK-12 English-language learners.
Those families should get a modified in-person learning schedule once the division can finalize dates again.