Fort Wayne Community Schools moves to remote learning through rest of November causing frustration

Fort Wayne Community Schools moves to remote learning through rest of November causing frustration

Fort Wayne parents were shocked to hear their children were moving to remote learning, with less than a 24-hour notice Monday.

In the schools.

Right now -- fort wayne students are continuing to learn virutally.

The decision to e-learn due to a transportation staff shortage surprising some parents.

Shocked to hear their children were moving to remote learning, with less than 24 hours notice.

Fox 55's nico pennisi tells us why fort wayne community schools made the decision and how it's impacting families.

Stand up: fort wayne community schools move to remote learning through the rest of the month.

They say their transportation department is short staffed because several employees are sick with covid- 19.

Stockman: "we rely heavily on that office staff to make sure the buses are running smoothly with routing and dispatch and without those office workers we can't safely run our operations."fort wayne community schools spokeswoman krista stockman says they didn't want employees coming back to work before recovering and possibly exposing students to the virus, the department has 200 buses that transport about 16,000 kids every day.

Stockman says it would be unfair to open schools only to those with their own transportation.stockman: "if we say we are not able to provide transportation and then we only open up the schools for students who have the resources to provide their own transportation that really creates an inequity."father of three ryan ford understands the decision, but doesn't appreciate the short notice.

Ford: "i wasn't really a fan of the last minute decision because that doesn't give parents, not just me and my wife, that doesn't really give parents a quick enough time to respond and create alternate plans for them."

Ford is a science teacher and says managing his zoom classes while watching over his kids can be hectic.

He says he and his wife are fortunate enough to be able to work from home.

Others aren't so lucky.

Ford: "with covid still keeping everything somewhat locked down or at bay so to speak it's hard to find sitters."stockman says parents shouldn't fret for too long.

Stockman: "we know that by next week we should have people back and we should be up and running again."stand up: "after speaking to parents, many urge fellow community members to be understanding of the circumstances.

They say the schools are just looking out for their children's safety.

In the studio, i'm nico pennisi fox 55 news" families are invited to pick up a meal kit for their remote learners.

Pick up is first- come, first serve at any