Brooke* said planning for the upcoming school year makes her feel "stuck in the middle" between two less-than-ideal options. "I know school is the best place for students to learn, but I am unsure if it is the safest space for them to be just yet." She is also worried for the health and safety of her own two school-age children.
For now, she's waiting for her school's reopening committee to release its plans on Aug. 1. She's encouraged that the New Jersey district she works in has been open to the idea of alternate plans for those staff members who are uneasy returning to the classroom setting so soon.
No matter what happens in the fall, Brooke told POPSUGAR that speaking positively to children at home about school — no matter what school looks like come September — is "the only way this will work."
