VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — 13News Now is your back-to-school station and many people are wondering how parents and teachers will take care of their own children while working.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools, along with the city Parks and Rec department, will offer a sort of "daycare" to help. The two are teaming up to provide what they call, "Safe Learning Centers."
Parks and Rec official, Julie Braley said it's primarily for schoolteachers and essential city personnel while they work.
“They need some help and we definitely want to be there for them to help provide that support. So, we see these as being very critical and essential,” said Braley.
She added that a Safe Learning Center is not a completely new concept. It’s an extended version of Parks and Rec's regular “before and after school programs.”
The difference is that the school district is providing additional staff for the “virtual learning” portion of the day. Then the rest of the time, Parks and Rec staff will conduct activities for the students in the centers.
All 55 elementary schools in the district will have free Safe Learning Centers, open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Parks and Rec will run an additional 22 centers inside the elementary schools too, meaning some will have two Safe Learning Centers in the building. Those will have extended hours from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at a cost of $80 per week, per student.
Essential city personnel and teachers will have priority at parks and rec operated centers followed by opening it to the public, next week.
“It’s very affordable for a parent who really wanted to just charge the nominal fee, to you know, cover some of our basic staff costs and things like that. But we understand that there’s a big need out there for parents,” said Braley.
School board member Carolyn Weems said it’s different, health-safety wise, then having students back for face-to-face class.
“For those that are wondering, you know, why is it safe to do this and not the other? These groups are much smaller,” said Weems.
We’re talking about a maximum capacity of 36 students, per-safe learning center, separated into three groups of 12. The minimum ratio is 1 staff to 12 students, but in many cases, each Safe Learning Center will have 2:12.
Weems said the school staff that will help in the centers, could include staff like bus drivers, custodians, and other non-teaching staff in the district if they agree to do so.
For a link to apply to join a Safe Learning Center, click here.