As a single mother to two boys, Britainy Diaz works two jobs to make ends meet. Her boys qualify for free breakfast and lunch at Gwinnett County’s Ivy Creek Elementary School.
With Metro Atlanta school districts moving to online learning due to concerns over the coronavirus, Diaz isn’t sure if she’ll be able to afford to feed her family. She’s already seeing a drop in her paycheck from her main job as a massage therapist.
“No one wants to get touched when there’s a virus going around,” Diaz told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Diaz is one of many metro Atlanta parents left to figure out contingency plans as schools temporarily close to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Childcare, keeping families fed and staying healthy top the list of their concerns.
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Kayla Faulkner, who lives in Cherokee County, works as an independent hairstylist not far from Town Center Mall. Many of her clients are Kennesaw State University students, so she’s expecting business to drop drastically.
“Not only do I not get paid if I have to miss work, or if my clients don’t show, but I still have to pay $315 a week for my space,” Faulkner said.
Faulker, who has a 3-year-old son and a daughter turning 8 on Saturday, often relies on her mother for help. But her mother isn’t in great health, and her age puts her into a vulnerable category. State officials have warned those 60 and up to take precautions, only with anyone with a chronic illness.
Finding temporary childcare will be too costly, Faulker said.
“They may just have to tag along,” she said.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Some parents say they are able to work from home, so childcare won’t be the main concern. Kristen Webber of Cobb County worries about her family of four, plus two cats and three dogs, being stuck at home.
“Fortunately my husband and I have some flexibility,” Webber said. “But with all of us in the house for an indefinite amount of time, someone’s not getting out of alive.”
Her kids’ schoolwork will continue online, but that won’t be easy, Webber said. There aren’t enough computers in her home for both children to work at the same time. Similarly, Diaz said she doesn’t have wifi at home and isn’t sure how her boys will access the internet to complete assignments.
Putnam County mother Rachel Kaul wants her district to close the schools, but it hasn’t happened yet.
“These kids are germ-carrying people,” Kaul said.
During a Thursday news conference, Gov. Brian Kemp left the decision to close up to individual districts.
There are no confirmed cases in Putnam County, about 75 miles southeast of Atlanta, but Kaul lives about 30 miles from Hard Labor Creek State Park, where a man with the coronavirus is being quarantined.
Her biggest concern is for her parents, including her mother who is currently receiving palliative care at her home. Kaul says her father and sister help with her mother’s care. With the coronavirus spreading through Georgia, Kaul can’t take the chance of potentially spreading illness to her parents’ home.
“I can’t give her any kind of help or anything as long as my kids are going to school with this going around,” Kaul said late Thursday.
Late Friday, the Putnam school superintendent announced the district would also move to online learning Monday.
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