CINCINNATI, Ohio — As parents across the state are concerned with the upcoming school year, districts are starting to release their plans to get students learning again. 

What You Need To Know


  • Oak Hills Schools announced its plans for reopening this fall

  • One parent and CPS teacher started a petition asking the school district to start remotely

  • The school district will follow the Ohio Public Health Advisory system

​Kim Toben has two children in the Oak Hills school district. And like most moms, she’s concerned about the re-opening of schools this fall. But she’s also a teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools and is looking at the issue from both perspectives.

“They want to be in school, I want them to be in school, I want to be in school," Toben said. "I love my students! I chose this profession, I love it. But, the most important piece is them being safe.”

And as the Oak Hills School District announced their re-opening plans earlier this week, Toben had a hard time coming to terms with it.

“I would much prefer the district as a whole decide that we’re going to start out remote," Toben said. "Because it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen, we have chosen the virtual option.”

Oak Hills is going to use the Ohio Public Health advisory system to determine how classes will look. Yellow and Orange will mean in person classes, red will be blended learning and purple will be entirely virtual. Toben thinks it should be taken a step further, which is why she started a petition to have school started virtually.

“I asked them to reconsider the level plan that they have," Toben said. "Asking that a level one be a full return, level two be blended and levels three and four be remote.”

Toben says both of her kids will attend the brand new Oak Hills Virtual Academy at least for the first semester, but it wasn’t an easy decision.

“Being a parent is so hard," Toben said. "You don’t ever know if you’re doing the right thing.”

And as Toben gears up to get back to teaching her own students and her kids this fall, she hopes parents will continue to trust educators are doing their best.

“Trust teachers," she said. "Trust us that we will educate your children in whatever format we need to educate them. But we will continue teaching them and advocating for them and loving them in whatever way we can.”