CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Families across the Charlotte region described mixed experiences Tuesday as districts finished the second day of school.
No major technical issues were reported following a chaotic first day of school Monday when the state's virtual learning platform crashed for teachers and students.
McKenzie Bolin is in the seventh grade at Mountain Island Lake Academy, and she said her assistant principal gave every family their Zoom codes before the first day of school, which allowed her to work around the shutdown.
"It's been going really good so far; [I] haven't had really any problems," Bolin said. "I'm looking forward to, surprisingly, more Zoom meetings."
Naveen Sharma's son is a third-grader in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, and he said his son's school-issued computer is having technical issues loading classes.
"We have to start at least ten minutes before the class so that we can join the class on-time," Sharma said.
He hoped his son will get to interact more with his teacher because right now, he said his son only sees his teacher once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
"Between times, it's very challenging to keep him busy," Sharma said.
CMS sent a mass email to seniors who graduated last year asking them to return all of their Chromebooks and internet hot spot devices.
Administrators said they don't have a shortage of Chromebooks, but there is high demand for hot spot devices as the county's supplies are depleted.
Gaston County is seeing high demand for its virtual academy as its enrollment jumped from about 100 students last year to around 8,000 students this year.
Karen Turner's daughter is newly enrolled in the virtual classes, and she's choosing to be optimistic despite some technical issues.
"I just hope that the other parents are trying to be patient," Turner said. "Everybody is having issues, and that it will get better."
As part of its hybrid A/B schedule, Gaston County will have its second "first day of in-person classes" on Thursday for students who started the week online.
At a Board of Education meeting Monday night, Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Booker said Monday's in-person classes went smoothly, but at the same meeting, Sierra Hall, whose daughter attends the school system, asked the board to consider going to online classes only.
"I am declining to send my kid to you guys," Hall said. "I don't feel safe. My daughter's life matters to me."
She continued, "Our children need to be home with their parents in the safety of their home."