CHINO, Calif. – Many students, teachers, and parents have mixed feelings about distance learning.

Students in the Chino Valley Unified School District started the school year learning from home, but the school board will reconvene at the end of August to decide what to do for the rest of the school year, pending Governor Gavin Newsom's orders. 

At the Fraga household, it was clearly lunch time as Kaylie Fraga, who is in sixth grade, belted out in song as she made her food. Kaylie started distance learning a month ago, and said being able to sing whenever she feels like it isn't the only reason she loves learning from the comfort of her own kitchen.

“Now, I get to just come downstairs and open my laptop and be ready to learn," Kaylie Fraga said.

It also doesn't hurt to have mom home, replacing her paper bag school lunches with hot fries just out of the air fryer.

“I have had to cut my work schedule down and have to be there for her, so everything will come with a sacrifice," said Kaylie's mom, Lissa Fraga.

When she weighed her options, the pay cut was a sacrifice Lissa Fraga was willing to make to ensure her daughter's safety. So far, distance learning is working out well for Kaylie.

“She’s learning the content. I looked through all her tests and all her assignments and she’s getting perfect scores on everything," Lissa Fraga said.

Kaylie said it's easier to focus. The lesson plans are very organized, and if there's anything she doesn't understand, Mrs. Graham has office hours. For now, the Chino Valley Unified School District is distance learning, but that could change next month.

If it does, Lissa Fraga isn't comfortable sending Kaylie back to brick and mortar. She said the teachers haven't been given the proper protocols or even supplies to keep themselves or their students safe from COVID-19.

“If a teacher tests positive, they’ve now been in contact with 85 children," Lissa Fraga said.

Lissa Fraga already knows of three teachers at her daughter's school who have tested positive. She's frustrated that the district is even considering returning to school. 

“I can’t fathom having to have a conversation with my child," Lissa Fraga said. "Look, we sent you back to school and Miss Suzie is really, really sick. Then a week later, Miss Suzie doesn’t make it? I think that experience will be much more traumatic than having them learn from a computer for a few months.”

Language arts and math are the lessons preparing Kaylie for junior high.

"It's a whole different ball game," Lissa Fraga said.

An entirely different lesson teaching Kaylie how to adapt when life throws you a curve ball.