School District of Philadelphia braces for SEPTA strike

Parents react to Philadelphia School District warning of return to virtual learning if SEPTA workers strike

The School District of Philadelphia is preparing for the event of a SEPTA strike if workers and leaders can't reach an agreement on a new contract.

PHILADELPHIA - The School District of Philadelphia is preparing for the event of a SEPTA strike if workers and leaders can't reach an agreement on a new contract.

The district says if the strike happens it could result in changes to how classes are currently operating.

Essentially, some or all schools could switch to 100% virtual learning if a SEPTA strike does occur.

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According to the School District of Philadelphia, nearly 60,000 students use SEPTA to get to and from school every day.

"It’s actually going to be a little bit of a hassle in our household," said Justin Skipworth. He’s talking about the possibility of the Philadelphia School District going back to virtual learning. He says it will be stressful for his family.

"Me and my spouse we’re at work all the time," said Skipworth whose 10-year-old son Kai says virtual learning was also difficult.

"If we missed one thing of what she said then we would probably slip up the whole thing. Like mess up," said Kai. The thought has a lot of families frantic.

SEPTA workers stuck amid stalled contract negotiations voted Sunday to authorize a strike if things aren't resolved this week. The district is warning parents because so many kids depend on SEPTA to get to school a strike could mean a return to at-home learning.

"When I was on virtual there was a lot of stuff, we had to do on google docs and it was really like complicated," said 11-year-old Anissa Camiolo whose dad says he and his wife both work and wouldn't be home to supervise learning again.

"They're all straight-A students. My kids. My two older kids they go to Central, but they suffered through virtual learning. They didn't like it," said Pete Camiolo.

The district's decision would also affect students who don't ride SEPTA to school like 11-year-old Nychalina Katchuk.

"In-person is better for us because we get to experience it more and do more things," she said. Her mom Jennifer says, "I understand what Septa is talking about. Everybody wants a fair job, but I hope it doesn’t go back to virtual because she just went back."