Oregon parents rally for kids to return to schoolhouses

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Oregon parents pleaded with officials this week to reopen K-12 schools after nine months of at-home education intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

At a Sunday gathering of about 40 families pressing Gov. Kate Brown to grant their request, one parent said that she constantly struggles to keep her children motivated for virtual learning.

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A similar hardship is faced by droves of other parents across the state, the outlet reported. 

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But Colt Gill, the director of the Oregon Department of Education, told FOX News that following the existing guidelines, while difficult, will help to "reduce case rates and community spread and help us open our schools to in-person instruction and keep them open."

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In October, officials announced new COVID-19 metrics to determine when students can return to K-12 schools for in-person learning, with the aim of getting more children back into the classroom. 

The original guidelines had been described by some educators and parents as too restrictive. However, even under the new parameters, about 80% of Oregon students will still not be eligible for in-person learning,

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Those rules call for counties that have 200 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people — over 14 straight days — to remain in distance learning. Those with 100 to 200 cases move to transition status, and those with 50 to 100 cases can use hybrid on-site and distance learning.

Counties with less than 50 cases are eligible for on-site learning.

Officials say the new metrics are more in line with the positions of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the neighboring state of California.

While some schools are eligible to return to on-site instruction, it should be done incrementally and beginning with younger grades, officials say. 

There are about 600,000 public school students in Oregon.

Representatives for Gov. Kate Brown didn't immediately respond to FOX News' request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.