LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — Like many parents during this time, Vikki Topacio feels conflicted.

As news broke that the Los Alamitos Unified School District, where her children are enrolled, received a waiver from the Orange County Public Health and California Department of Health Thursday to reopen its elementary schools, Topacio felt elated but remained cautious.

“This is very emotionally heavy stuff,” said Topacio, who has two kids enrolled in an elementary school in the district. “My kids are so young. They are incoming first graders, and this is only their second year of schooling, and their kindergarten experience was cut short. These are prime years for learning.

“I trust that the school district and the school has put every precaution in place to make sure our kids are safe,” Topacio said. “But it still makes me nervous. I just have to believe that everything will be okay.”

With the school district now fully intent on reopening its elementary school campuses, Topacio is among thousands of parents grappling with the decision to send their kids back to school during the global coronavirus health pandemic. Keeping their children home in a remote learning environment may not be as effective as traditional learning and could require more parental attention.

The Los Alamitos Unified School District was one of 30 schools – and the only public school - in Orange County that received a waiver to reopen its elementary school campuses from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA).

The school district’s two middle schools and one high school have not yet received approvals to reopen their brick and mortar campus. The district could receive clearance for its middle and high school in mid-September if Orange County keeps up its downward COVID-19 hospitalization trend and gets off the state’s coronavirus watchlist.

On Thursday, Orange County recorded 429 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths, including the first pediatric death, a teenager. As of Friday morning, Orange County had 44,936 cases and 856 total deaths, according to the Orange County health department website.

To be removed from the state watchlist that monitors counties with high coronavirus cases, a county has to meet specific requirements that include COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 residents, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the number of ICU beds available, and the percentage of positive tests returned.

Orange County could be removed from the watchlist as early as Saturday. This move would kick off reopening more schools and businesses across the county in the coming months.

Since Orange County is still on the state’s monitoring list, earlier this month, Los Alamitos Unified, along with other, mostly private schools, applied for a special waiver from the OCHCA to reopen its elementary school campuses or TK–6th grade for in-person instruction. Los Alamitos Unified has six elementary school campuses, two middle schools, and a high school.

In an email to parents after receiving the waiver on Thursday, Los Alamitos Unified Superintendent Andrew Pulver said every student in the district would start the school year on August 31 in a distance learning format. On Sept. 8, with the waiver, students at its elementary schools will transition into a hybrid setting that includes in-person on-campus learning and remote learning from home.

He said those elementary school students would remain in the hybrid setting for at least four weeks. It remains to be seen when middle school and high school students will come back to campus.

“Any return to in-person instruction will be made based on metrics, science, and guidelines specific to schools dictated by CDPH and OCHCA,” Pulver wrote. “We will not act to return students to our school sites without the proper science and guidance from our state and county public health officials.”

In an email to Spectrum News 1, Jennifer Katkov, who has a son enrolled in the district, said she was disappointed that the waiver did not include in-person on-campus instruction for students with special needs.

“I was very happy the waiver was approved. I trust our district to keep our kids safe while educating them on campus,” Katkov wrote. “However, my joy soon turned to anger when I discovered that students like my son are excluded from this waiver. My son and his classmates are not being given the choice to return because they are in special education classes.”

Katkov said her son cannot participate in virtual learning. He is triggered by live videos and will cover his ears, close the app, start pacing, and becomes aggressive, she wrote.

“At home, too much screen time leads to increased anxiety, so we have to limit it,” she wrote. “I am hoping we are off the watchlist by the time the waiver takes effect, or my son will get no education for the time being. If not, I will be asking for supports at home from the district.”

Pulver told parents that the OCHA informed him that special education classes will have a separate set of guidelines and that those will come from the state health agency.

“We have been tirelessly advocating on behalf of our special education students and families to allow an in-person option or waiver,” Pulver said. “Until further state guidance on special education is released, our SDC classes will be forced to remain in a distance learning setting until the county is off the state monitoring watchlist for 14 consecutive days.”

Elissa Frederick, a parent of five children enrolled in the district ranging from kindergarten to high school, questions why the district is in such a rush reopen its schools.

Frederick said coronavirus cases have been going up in the cities and areas the district serves. She started a Change.org petition to gather support to improve the district’s coronavirus safety protocols. She enrolled her children in the district’s one-year fully remote learning program LosAl@Home.

“We have a vulnerable demographic,” Frederick said, referring to the areas under the district that include many senior citizens living in Seal Beach, Leisure World, Rossmoor, and Los Alamitos. “We cannot afford to have community spread in this town and not just here but all across the county as we send children back to school.”

In her Change.org petition, which has more than 375 signatures as of Friday afternoon, Frederick mentions that the district is only requiring third-grade students and above to wear masks. It would allow children with 100.4-degree temperature to attend schools and enable high school students to leave campus for lunch, which could pose a danger to businesses and other parts of the community.

“This is giving the community a false sense of hope and security,” Frederick said. “Studies have shown that kids are super spreaders, and this could snowball and hurt our community.”

Frederick’s goal with the petition is to make sure parents and teachers are aware of the district’s safety protocols and create changes.

Mailisia Lemus has three kids enrolled in the district. She has chosen the traditional on-campus learning pathway when middle and high schools can resume in-person classes. Lemus said the decision was tough, but she has openly discussed the coronavirus subject with her children who are in middle school and high school.

But rather than living in fear and sheltering her children, she wants them to be careful and cautious when they go back to school. She said her children excel and are more active and engaged in a traditional classroom setting.

“I’ve been open with them,” Lemus said. “They need to understand what’s going on and why. We’ve talked about the seriousness [of the coronavirus] and why it’s a big deal and how it could spread…

“This is a new reality, and it’s not going away soon,” Lemus added. “We don’t know how long this is going to last. Kids are smart and resilient. We got to move around smartly and equip our children with knowledge.”

For parents grappling with the decision on whether to send their kids back on campus or not, Lemus said we should all support each other.

“Everyone is coming from a different place,” Lemus said. “We all have our own reasons. As long as we are understanding of that and not being negative, we should support each other. Whatever questions that you may have, we have to be here for each other. That is the approach we should take for all the parents and community. We are all dealing with this.”