ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County parents and students lined up at the Bithlo Community Center Saturday morning to pick up free backpacks filled with school supplies as the deadline to register students is days away.
The giveaway was part of Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla’s back to school event. Bonilla said because of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of a fun gathering parents picked up the supplies in a drive-thru.
Bonilla said the free supplies come at a time where many families are struggling to make ends meet.
"It definitely helps them out and relieves that pressure of some of that financial burden," Bonilla said.
This comes as thousands of Orange County families still haven't decided how their children will return to school.
Orange County Public Schools initially said the deadline to register was Friday, but officials extended it until 5 p.m. Monday. Parents must pick one of three learning models for their students: face to face learning, Orange County Virtual School, or LaunchED@Home, which is a distance learning program that mirrors face to face instruction.
School officials said so far it has received around 140,000 registrations out of 212,000 students. More than half of the families preferred distance learning.
One mother at Bonilla's school supply giveaway said it was a simple choice for their family.
"It's very easy for us. We are definitely going anyways," the mother said.
But Eden said the county's coronavirus cases are too high and she's worried about sending her son to school. She signed him up for virtual school instead.
“He’s excited to be able to see his classmates again. He knows through the virtual he’ll be able to see everybody but it’s not the same because there’s also a lot of social time that he’ll be missing for the school year,” Eden said.
Bonilla is hosting a second school supply giveaway Saturday at the Orlando Magic Recreation Center from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Click here to register.
Parents of Central Florida students can find everything they need to know about their district’s back-to-school plan at ClickOrlando.com/backtoschool.