ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – With schools closing for three weeks, many parents spent Friday home with their children but they say they are still trying to figure out a long term plan. Many parents started at the parks and Explora to keep their kids entertained for the day.

However, with three weeks of downtime, some parents say they plan on putting their kids to work.

“They are probably not going to like it but we’re going to give them some more chores to do and they like to read so they’ll have some time to be kids and play but they’ll have a few extra chores this week or for the next couple of weeks that they probably didn’t plan on,” said parent Fred Jaramillo.

Not everyone KRQE News 13 spoke to is able to stay at home with their kids and many parents are scrambling to figure out a game plan because they still have to go into work and don’t have daycare or relatives to watch their kids.

“It totally is an inconvenience. I don’t know if we need to step it up this high in New Mexico compared to other states or if it’s just that we’re thinking ahead,” said parent Cheryl Francisco.

The state says it will continue to pay teachers and other state employees who aren’t able to work because of the coronavirus so that’s won’t be a burden. State officials say before they made the call to close schools for there weeks, they looked at districts in other states that shut down schools during previous pandemics and the closures cut infection rates significantly in some places by 30% or more.

Related Coverage: