Nearly half of Philly parents would send their kids to school now, survey shows

Philadelphia parents have mixed feelings about sending their children back to school amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

On Tuesday, the School District of Philadelphia released the results of a survey taken by more than 36,000 students, parents, guardians and staff members between June 15-22.

• MORE NEWS 
• Kensington child suffers severe hand injuries after explosive device goes off
  
• PennDOT repaving project to cause lane restrictions in Philadelphia, suburbs
  
• Five Republican candidates face off in New Jersey's U.S. Senate primary election
  

Of the 15,000 parents and guardians who completed the poll, 47% said they would send their kids back to schools under the current circumstances. If safety measures are put in place, 62% said they would let their children return.

That still leaves a significant portion of parents who aren't totally comfortable with the reopening of schools this fall. 

Another 21% of parents and guardians said they prefer kids attend school daily but in staggered shifts – an effort to reduce group sizes and mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread. Among the 12,000 school staffers surveyed, 24% echoed that sentiment. 

The survey found that the top three safety measures respondents believe will help with a safe return are mask wearing (30%), daily building cleaning (14%) and the installment of hand washing and sanitizing stations (14%). 

The safety measures cited in the survey align with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for school reopening. The entire survey results can be found here. 

The district also is hosting a virtual program this week to address school safety. The remaining sessions of the "Advancing Education Safely Town Hall Series" take place Thursday. More information is available here.