'Some People Will Think That I'm Crazy': Parents Move Out Of State, Change Schools To Get Kids Back Into Classrooms For Fall
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — With about one month left until the start of the new school year, some parents are taking extreme measures to avoid remote learning while others are getting creative with childcare.
Elena Guerassimova, who works full time at a dental office, said she struggled to help her two sons keep up with their school work after schools shut down in March.
"I would come home at 6:30, and that's when whatever homework they didn't do, I have to either explain or correct and do one of those," she said.
She said her children struggled too, especially 9-year-old Mika.
"He shut down," she said. "He said, 'Mom, I think I don't know anything.' So his confidence dropped so much."
When Guerassimova learned that schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District would not be returning to campus in August, she decided to move with her sons to town in Tennessee where she lived years ago. Schools there are planing to reopen in August, but it means she will leave her husband, and her children will leave their father, behind.
"Some people will think that I'm crazy, do this big move for a kid," she said. "But a lot of people see it differently."
Alexis White is the owner of The A-List Tutoring Services and a mother to two boys.
"Parents right now are faced with total panic," she said. "They have no idea how they'll be able to balance their work lives and childcare."
White said she also has clients temporarily moving out of state.
"They are moving to Maryland or they're moving Colorado," she said. "They are going where they have family, and maybe where schools are open, or where they're able to facilitate remote learning and have people to help them out."
Other parents, like motivational coach Dana Bowling, are making the switch from public to private schools.
"And it's very, very challenging to stay focused and, you know, able to serve your clients when your kids are coming in every second," she said.
Her husband travels for work and the couple does not have a nanny.
"I felt like I was the bad mom," she said. "I was constantly yelling at my kids and hen my husband would get involved, and they would all fight. We were all fighting!"
White said there are other, more affordable options that some of her clients have been exploring.
"Look in your inner circle," she said. "Sometimes there's, you know, your cousin's daughter who isn't going back to college, because her college isn't open, and she's ready to do some work. She may be even considering doing work for free and putting it on her resume."
LAUSD has not yet released any information on childcare for working families this upcoming school year, but Superintendent Austin Beutner has said it was going to be part of the district's plans.