About 15,000 Orange County students will switch to in-person classes

ORLANDO, Fla. - About 15,000 students from Orange County's schools will transition from virtual learning to in-person classes.

The Superintendent for the district told FOX 35 that she actually expected more students to head back into the classroom, stating "we would have suspected more because it's quite a challenge for parents to be responsible for their child's education, so we suspected there'd be a large number.

She added that right now, the majority of students are learning at home through the county's virtual LaunchEd platform. She said, “If you're at home under the right health and safety practices, that's always the best place we believe for our children."

Of the district's nearly 200,000 students, about 34 percent were in the classroom. As of the next grading period, that will jump by about 15,000 students, with 42 percent of the student body taking classes in schools.

MORE NEWS: CDC ranks trick-or-treating as a 'high-risk' Halloween activity

Teachers' Union President Wendy Doromal said that means principals would have to re-calculate how many teachers they needed in schools, citing that "we understand that teachers will be called to do face-to-face -- those that are doing Launch ED at home."

She explained that it would put a strain on teachers, saying "that means more calls home, more communication with parents, more communication with students. Some teachers tell me that altogether they have 50 students.”

Jenkins said each family should decide for themselves what is best. She said they were still working with the state to see whether parents would get another chance to decide where they wanted their students to learn at the end of the next grading period.

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.