Charlotte County parents say kick off to the school year going surprisingly well

On the second day of school in Southwest Florida, many parents said they’re pleasantly surprised by how school is going so far, despite the pandemic

They say they like the smaller class sizes and the emphasis on social distancing.

But not everything is just fine… yet.

Seventh-grader Daniel Barlow is getting more screen time from virtual learning.

His mom, Shana says, “He’s a little excited but he’s also a bit nervous because he doesn’t know what to expect.”

What she didn’t expect was to see just one teacher assignment out of his six classes on the first day.

“It’s kind of a learning process for everybody. But I do think communication, more communication, it’s probably the biggest thing,” Shana said.

Charlotte County Public Schools says it has nearly 30x as many students signed up for virtual school this year compared to last.

They’re rolling out classes one at a time so families, and the system, don’t get overwhelmed.

Alyson Roettinger said her son had a 45-minute bus delay on Monday, with more issues today.

“I tried calling, got a busy signal, and again I just drove him to school I did not know where the bus is,” she explained.

The district says it’s not aware of any buses not showing up, and both parents hope it’s just a glitch.

During a time of adjustment for everyone, Shana added, “Things are going to go wrong, and just, we have to be flexible with it.”

The district says it had to bring in more staff to accommodate the increase of students who registered for virtual school.