GREEN BAY (NBC 26) -- The plans for how local schools intend to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic are still unclear at this point, and that's impacting how parents are preparing to shop for back to school.
"It's really hard to know what to even shop for, not knowing whether the kids will be back in school in person or not," Chappell Elementary School parent Rachel Hernandez said.
For several local school districts, the plans are still unknown to the public.
"We're thinking about getting two sets of school supplies," Hernandez said. "Going to a blended model or hybrid model may be a part of what the school year looks like, and for my family, I would prefer that we're not transferring school supplies between the school environment and the home environment."
Elizabeth Steffels, an Elmore Elementary School parent, says she would prefer a plan that swaps groups of students that every other day of the week.
"So I would send them with their masks, and hand sanitizer, but there's really not much else," Steffels said. "I mean whatever the school needs," as one of her daughters interjects to offer gloves as a potential school supply, "gloves are okay girls, but I mean really, there's not much more they can do other than sanitize your desks, sanitize the spaces."
The Appleton School District is advising parents to wait until after officials publish their re-entry plan to shop for supplies. The Howard-Suamico School District is in the same boat. Both plan on sharing their plans with parents by the end of July.
Dana Tingley has children in the Howard-Suamico school district, one of which has an autoimmune disease. She expects classrooms to eliminate any communal supplies they're used to sharing amongst students.
"We've always had to buy separate and had theirs labeled and made separate," Tingley said. "So really, it's not overly new for us to have separate things. And then it just ended up that in those classrooms, it was easier for each kiddos to have their own thing."
Green Bay Area Public Schools have multiple lists published online right now for specific schools within their realm, but the school district told NBC 26 that they will update those lists at the beginning of August based on the plan officials ultimately decide on. The current lists are based on previous in-person class formats.
