Lakeland schools began in-person learning on Tuesday

LAGRANGE COUNTY, Ind. -- With one of the lowest vaccination rates of any Indiana county, LaGrange County students of Lakeland schools returned to in-person learning on Tuesday with optional mask requirements for students and staff members.

“One thing that I’ve noticed is it’s hard to put together a person’s whole face. There’s some kids in the building right now that I don’t know from the nose down,” said Jason Schackow, Principal of Lakeland Junior-Senior High School.

Schackow is confident that he can create a safe environment for students this school year with the policies that will be in place.

“We did a lot of heavy lifting last year with all the COVID restrictions and figuring out how to run a building while trying to keep kids as safe as possible. The nice thing about going through that last year, being around here, a lot of the things we need are in place and the things that didn’t work we don’t have to do as much anymore,” Schackow added.

Similar to many other Michiana school districts going optional for face coverings and having relaxed social distancing policies, the students of Lakeland Junior-Senior High School have said the return is looking a bit different than last year.

“It’s nice to see faces. It’s nice to almost get back into the normalcy of the world, face to face contact, as much as we’ve tried not to have that for the whole past year so it’s nice to try to get back into it,” one student said.

Lakeland schools will keep a virtual option in place for students and teachers that are still uncomfortable with returning to in-person learning this school year.