Schools Are Open, but Many Families Remain Hesitant to Return Even as fears of the coronavirus abate, many students are continuing to opt out of in-person learning. Some school leaders are trying to woo — or push — them back. Pauline Rojas, a Texas high school student, has decided not to return to in-person classes.Credit...Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times May 9, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET Pauline Rojas’s high school in San Antonio is open. But like many of her classmates, she has not returned, and has little interest in doing so. During the coronavirus pandemic, she started working 20 to 40 hours per week at Raising Cane’s, a fast-food restaurant, and has used the money to help pay her family’s internet bill, buy clothes and save for a car.