I'd say talk to some of his classmates' parents about it. Let them know you can't drive and why, and ask if they know of resources or if a carpool situation could be worked out for rainy days and things like early dismissals. It could be a great way for both of you to meet other families in the community.

Speaking as a teacher - in regards to sending him back, I advise including him in the decision. If he'd prefer to do things online, okay. If he likes classroom work, though, and learns well through interaction, I wouldn't deprive him of it. The same applies to social interaction. He's developing a lot of social skills right now, which are every bit as important as the subjects he's being taught.

I feel like any parent without a car is in the same boat. And every parent is on the edge of their seat right now, waiting to figure out what they want their kiddo doing for school.

Would you be able to work with an O+M instructor on walking routes to get to your son's school in an emergency? Where you are, is Uber/Lyft/a taxi an option for you in case of an emergency? Does your son have any friends you can reach out to the parents to find out what their emergency plans are? Local parenting groups on facebook can be pretty good for finding options too.
(I'm in the opposite boat from you right now- my kiddo is the visually impaired one and she's in middle school as well. She's immunocompromised so I am losing my mind deciding what I want her to do. Her school hasn't even announced options yet)

Good luck!

I'd always say to exhaust any other options before opting for 100 % distance learning. That option deprives him of vital social interaction which he'll need at such a young age, especially just starting a new school. If he misses a term of school, everyone will have already formed into friendship groups when he comes back and it'll be that bit harder for him to make new friends.

>It’s a mile away but I don’t think he’s mentally mature enough to walk or ride his bike there by himself

Obviously I do not know your child and I won't pretend to know about his specific cirumstance, but I would think twice about this. A 20 minute walk (or 5 minute bike ride) is not too far and it can build the child's independence. I think 10 years old is plenty old to walk to school.

While I myself have no experience with being visually impaired and going to school as I myself became visually impaired after graduating from high school. I think I might have some good advice because I have a friend who herself is not visually impaired but due to anxiety getting too bad and the stress becoming too much had to drop out of and unenrolled from our school and start taking online classes from home her school is set in Georgia but yet she can do all her schoolwork on her laptop from home and even come over and spend the night at my house and continue to do her work if needed. So I think the best plan would be to probably try and find some online school for your kid because I know some computers have voiceover or text to speech on them as well as if ever needed you could both work on the projects or schoolwork together as that is what my friend and her mom do if there’s ever an assignment she doesn’t understand then she can ask her mom and they can work on it together. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense or if it’s not good advice as I don’t have my own personal experience

I feel your pain, not trying to tell you what to do but homeschooling is something to really take into consideration, I have a six-year-old, I am totally blind and I definitely will homeschool my kids, especially with this pandemic and people are unaware, please review your options and make the best decision, good luck

I'm not sure to what extent your visual impairment is, but maybe opt for a bike /two person bike if you need to get to the school fast, if that is an option for you of course.

Talk to friends, other parents, or neighbors even if your child needs to be picked up quickly. Worse comes to worse your child and the driver can just wear a mask if they have to travel in the same vehicle together.

You could also see if the school could just provide a taxi until you're comfortable with him going there by himself. Again, he and the driver can both wear masks if need be.