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Message To Parents During Online Learning: Put On Shirt, Put Down Beer

School Board Chairman Eric Cummings with mask on during meeting
Marion County Public Schools
/
The Florida Channel
"Some kids have never seen a woman in a bra," school board Chairman Eric Cummings said during Tuesday's meeting.

Marion County School Board Chairman Eric Cummings has a message for parents of online students:

  • Let the teachers teach — don’t sit there whispering answers to your children.
  • Don’t let the child attend school in his pajamas in bed.
  • And put on a shirt or blouse.

“I’m asking that we kind of get something together - some type of protocols, etiquette for parents - because you have parents that are walking by, they only have on the bra,” Cummings said. “Some kids have never seen a woman in a bra.”

The district agreed to develop parental guidelines for online learning after Cummings and other school board members voiced concerns Tuesday night about the situation in some homes.

Like other school districts around the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marion instructors provide online learning on video software such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Online students can see their classmates on their monitor screens, though, and Cummings wants parents to take that into account — for instance, no drinking a beer in the background.

The district will have guidelines for parents — and a video on the etiquette of online learning.