CINCINNATI, Ohio — Cincinnati Public Schools officially has made the decision to start the school year with virtual learning. This decision was made during a board of education meeting Monday evening.

“We have heard what our public has told us,” said Carolyn Jones, CPS Board President. “We have heard what parents have told us. We have heard what our students have told us and we appreciate all the efforts from our partners to help provide the assistance for us.”

This plan consists of students doing virtual learning for the first five weeks. On Sept. 14, the board will re-evaluate the COVID-19 situation. They will then decide if students are safe to return by Sept. 28.

“I feel like we’re in a good place right now with moving forward and we’re going to have a good year,” said Jones.

The school district’s initial plan was to have students attend school in person a few days per week. This was a concern for many parents who felt it wasn’t a safe environment for students to return to.

“This is an airborne virus so it’s just a matter of time,” said Levon Siler, a CPS parent. “The plan was not sufficient in my mind to actually be effective.”

Siler was one of dozens of others who participated in the rally for safe reopen of Cincinnati Public Schools prior to the meeting. Now that the board has decided to begin virtually, he says he feels better about the decision.

“As a parent, I certainly feel a sense of relief,” he said. “There was almost a sense of relief before the meeting started because I felt like it was just a matter of how they were going to go about it.”

Although he’s okay with the outcome, he says he still wants to see the school do more to keep everyone safe.

“Hopefully there’s a little bit more urgency there and that they will then push over these next five weeks while instruction has already started that the board and the administration can then focus on we’re back to school and so what is going to happen on Sept. 28,” he said.