ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — We’ve been following the journey of the Griffis', an Orange County family, ever since they decided to send their boys back to face-to-face learning at the beginning of the school year.

Mom Brianne Griffis says having her boys Ethan and Tyler back at school again has done wonders for their academic success.

Especially with all the services Ethan gets in class for his autism.

But they couldn’t escape the rising tide of COVID-19 in schools forever.

“Tyler the youngest, he’s four ... his class had a student that tested positive so they quarantined his class,” Griffis said. 

She said it really threw off their work schedules to have Tyler home for two weeks.

But his class is just one of many in Orange County Public Schools that have had to self isolate as new case numbers continue to rise in the district. 

“But it’s probably been a class every two weeks right now that's getting quarantined ... but now we’ve just kind of been on edge, just because there has been a class every two weeks so it’s kind of more like just a waiting game on like when it’s going to happen?” Griffis said. 

And with Thanksgiving right around the corner, she worries other families might not take proper health precautions.

“That’s the biggest concern is you know while we can stay home for the holidays, and stay protected we don’t know what everyone else is gonna do,” Griffis said. 

All these factors have Griffis concerned that even more school closures and quarantines could be on the horizon.

And while more time home might cut down on the after-school energy, she worries what all that time out of school would do to her son’s progress.

“So it means no private therapy, no school services, no teaching for two weeks, except online, but we saw how that worked for him that was not the best fit, so for two weeks we truly lose out,” Griffis said. 

She also added that if all kids had to return to school next year, she worries that would also increase the number of shutdowns and quarantines.