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San Francisco school officials plan to reopen classrooms for in-person learning from April 12, officials said Friday night, after months of heated debate over how and when students would return to teaching in person.
Officials said they had reached an agreement in principle with the teachers’ union to “bring as many students as possible into focus groups to almost a full school day, 5 days a week.” These groups mainly range from Kindergarten to Grade 2, or approximately 13,000 students.
See: List of SFUSD schools scheduled to reopen in April
The deal means that at least some students will see the interior of a classroom before the end of the school year, although it is not known how many of the district’s 52,000 students will return before the end of the term. June 2. details of the tentative deal, indicating that officials plan to share more information on Monday.
“This is an important step on our way to reopening schools. We continue to be committed to ensuring that every student and family in the San Francisco United School District receives the support they need, ”Board Chair Gabriela López said in a statement. “Whether it’s parents and caregivers doing their best to support their children, or teachers working tirelessly to support learning during a pandemic. We’re all in the same boat. “
The deal comes after weeks of increasingly tense negotiations. The district and council have faced increasing pressure from parents and city officials to reopen schools – including a lawsuit, rallies and “zooms” and a possible recall – as concerns about the loss of learning and the increasing risks to mental health intensified.
The mayor of London Breed had gone to great lengths to reopen schools, criticizing the school board for renaming the sites instead of focusing on struggling families and students. She also supported the reopening trial pushed by city attorney Dennis Herrera.
The district said that for those returning, “with few exceptions, elementary school students will stay with their teacher.” Families who choose to stay in distance education can do so.
It is not known if and when grades 3-5 will return and officials have said it is highly unlikely that middle and high school students will return to class this year. Yet at a council meeting this week, the commissioners expressed interest in bringing back college and high school students for social or athletic activities.
Many teachers were afraid to go home without vaccinations, although experts said it was safe to do so with proper precautions. Yet this week, the district sent 4,000 staff access codes for vaccinations, making it easier to reopen. San Francisco Unified has approximately 4,600 teachers, along with thousands of other school staff, including teacher assistants, counselors, office and cafeteria workers, and guards.
“Today’s agreement is the product of months of adapting and reinventing what a return to in-person teaching might look like for educators, students and families in a large urban district in pandemic, ”said teacher union president Susan Solomon in a statement. “Now we need the city and district to keep their commitment to have school staff immunized as soon as possible.”
Meredith Willa Dodson, a parent who has advocated with other parents to reopen schools, told The Chronicle on Friday night that families are still trying to figure out what the tentative agreement means for all students in the school district. Dodson said she was texting a “million text messages” from other working parents to crack the deal, saying she felt “a little bit incredulous.”
“There is excitement that this is the biggest progress so far in a year, and we’re still waiting for information, so it’s hard to get too excited. Like, what does that mean? “Said Dodson.” In San Francisco, we’re opening restaurants and opening restaurants indoors and we’re in the red level. In a few weeks it looks like we’ll be in the orange level. We know we’ve done some work. very good job in the city with the broadcast – we should absolutely prioritize the reintegration of our children into school.
The district said the health department has approved the return of the first group of schools, comprising five preschool education sites, six elementary schools and a county program.
District officials said in a separate statement Friday evening that families in the first group of returning students can update their preference for virtual learning over in-person learning next week and the next group of families with students in line to return will be interviewed on March 9.
“We are excited to share this progress and we also know that some students and families who wish to return will not be able to do so at this time,” Superintendent Vince Matthews said in a statement. “We recognize that distance learning is not ideal for most students and many families have struggled with a full year of distance learning. We really wish we could reopen schools for everyone. “
It’s a story of rupture. Check back for updates.
Lauren Hernandez is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ByLHernandez
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