GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Jamie Jensen's son was back in the classroom for two days last week.
Some of his classmates were there too, but not in person.
"In a perfect world, there would be no virtual option," Jensen, a Southwest High School parent, said about hybrid learning. "I don't think that this virtual option is necessary anymore."
But some families say it's still the best option for them. The Green Bay Public School District says nearly 28 percent of students chose to stay virtual, including the Hernandez family.
"They don't want to wear masks all day in a school setting and they're doing fine in virtual," Rachel Hernandez said about her two students. "So at this point in the school year, my kids don't even have an appetite to disrupt it."
The feelings of these families means many teachers are instructing students online and in person at the same time.
"To have the kids sitting behind the computer, learning through a computer only, and pretending that they're not in a classroom with their classmates and their teachers... that's just kind of silly," Jensen said. "Then why even bring them into school?"
It's been nearly two weeks since the first wave of students returned to in-person learning within the district.
"I realize that their teacher now has the complexity of teaching both in-person kids as well as virtual kids," Hernandez said. "But my children are getting the same level of education that they've gotten the entire year."
The district says it doesn't plan to get rid of the virtual option anytime soon.
"If we are listening to our constituents, a third of them are saying we would like a virtual model," GBAPS Superintendent Stephen Murley said. "I don't how you discount what a third of your students and families are asking of you... I would be unethical not to provide them an opportunity to continue their education because they can’t come on campus."
So while virtual learning remains an option, parents like Hernandez and Jensen will get the choice to do what's best for them.
"Virtual school is working for my kids and at this point in the school year, I wouldn't understand a rationale to disrupt it," Hernandez said.
The Appleton Area School District is also currently allowing a virtual option.
"Everyone's throwing this new normal around," Jensen said. "It's not normal. This is not the way that we've learned as children."
The debate continues this week, in a year unlike any other.
