Parents and students say they're devastated after news that the Lynchburg City Schools Virtual Academy will close after this year.

Since Wednesday, Giles County students have been home participating in virtual classes due to a lack of teachers.

ROANOKE, Va. – Though a school reopening bill passed the Virginia Senate, the virtual component is getting mixed reactions from school superintendents and teachers. If Grayson County uses Virtual Virginia, it could cost the district about $1,200 a year per student. “If you want a virtual component then you need to put some money in the SOQ [Standard of Quality] to cover that virtual component and not leave us shorthanded,” he said. “This is going right back to no child left behind unfunded mandates from years ago.”AdWilmore said this piece of legislation is micromanaging and Henry County Schools agrees. As a parent and a teacher, Franklin County High School Teacher Kim Ellis said virtual learning needs to be on the table because of safety.

ROANOKE, Va. Many families are looking for safe ways for their kids to get time with other kids their age. If your kids are going to school online they may be missing out on some of the social time. PODS are a growing concept where families get together to learn or play keeping the circle small and contained to keep the risk of COVID down. They really are social and thats really been the hardest part not being able to socialize. Many working families cant provide transportation to and from a tutoring pod, even if they could afford to pay for the service.

Whether your children have already begun their school year or you’re still preparing, due to delays, there are many who are choosing to keep their kids home to learn as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Parents are doing their best to adapt, and we applaud every parent for the decision they’re making -- regardless of what that is. But for those who are keeping kids home for virtual learning, we want to see exactly how you’re adapting. What does the “classroom” you’ve created look like? We’d love to see what kinds of ideas parents have come up with, and we have a feeling other parents might appreciate some good ideas, too.

At least a third of children couldn’t access remote learning when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, creating “a global education emergency,” the U.N. children’s agency said. At the height of lockdowns meant to curb the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures, UNICEF said. “For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said. The highest number of children affection by region were in South Asia, at least 147 million, according to the report. The youngest children are also most likely to miss out on remote learning during critical years, the report said, largely due to challenges and limitations to online learning for young children and lack of assets at home.

HENRY COUNTY, Va. – Whitney Calloway was hard at work in her classroom at Meadowview Elementary School even though students weren’t there. “I like the virtual classroom just because there is flexibility in where you work,” Calloway said. Her own children, all Henry County Public Schools students, were there with her. Mason Calloway, 8, checks out some math equations on his iPad. “Making sure that when we sit down to do school we focus, we get it done first,” she said.