San Francisco colleges scramble to fulfill excessive demand for on-line studying
Demand for home learning this fall was much higher than expected from San Francisco schools, creating a number of logistics issues that have left some children in limbo or are still awaiting the start of the school year.
The San Francisco Unified School District is struggling to accommodate any students whose families tried to remotely study them because they were uncomfortable about the transmission of the coronavirus. District staff initially planned an online program for approximately 450 students, or one percent of the student population, who were classified as “medically fragile” under federal guidance, with the remaining students expected to be in person again.
Instead, 735 students applied and were accepted, district officials said on Monday. And in July, state lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 130, which allows independent instruction of children at risk for personal instruction as directed by a parent or guardian. Just a few weeks before the start of the school year, the district had to add another 1,200 places.
In total, more than 1,900 students were offered places in the online programs that were not yet completely finished. This has left some students with no instructions or curriculum to learn from as their parents keep them at home for safety reasons.
“We did not have the lead time to start and implement this program thoughtfully,” said Eikia Ford-Morthel, SFUSD deputy headmistress, at a school committee meeting on Monday. “The resource and personnel constraints are real. There is a great personnel crisis in the education sector. “
Despite these setbacks, the staffing levels for the online learning program for the medically vulnerable students are now set. But the on-demand tutorial for parents who feel personal learning is too risky for their children needs 55 more educators, with dozens more open educator positions open, Ford-Morthel estimates. She said they hoped to leverage existing staff at websites that the online students are familiar with.
SFUSD was unable to provide demographic information on students seeking distance learning in time for release, but staff said very few attend high school. There is also evidence that Chinese families living in communal housing have strong online preferences. The Chinatown Community Development Center surveyed 294 families living in single rooms prior to the school year, 70 percent of whom were against sending their children for personal study.
Almost 900 students who have been admitted to either program have yet to confirm their participation by signing the agreement. Some may not know or have not accessed the agreement, but others struggle to understand what it involves and whether it is the right step as the schedule includes far less live teaching than distance learning.
Monolingual families in particular fear that their children will be left behind without practical support and staff to connect with. Some parents reported school management members Monday that more than a month had passed and they either had no information about their application status or had received schoolwork for their children to learn from.
“You are stuck in this dilemma,” said Jen Chan, resident services manager at CCDC, which owns and runs SROs. “Some of them may still be enrolled in their current school to take the risk. Some parents are at home trying to teach them. It also brings a lot of psychological anxiety to the families. “
Nearly 500 students admitted to the online program have returned to the physical classroom since their admission, while 577 opted out for distance learning.
School and public health officials have worked to reassure families that face-to-face learning is safe and that COVID-19 cases among adolescents are falling. The Department of Health noted that schools in San Francisco had no COVID-19 outbreaks, defined as “three or more cases in unrelated households where the source of infection was at the school”. By September 10, about 90 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 had been fully vaccinated.
School board members Jenny Lam, Gabriela López and Alison Collins met with SRO families in Chinatown to hear concerns about access and distancing testing in schools, Han said. Lam said the focus is on understanding concerns and educating families about safety measures and guidelines to increase confidence in sending children in person.
“That’s why it’s so important that we communicate consistently so that families know what we’re doing to protect our students,” said Lam. “We know that we have to do even better in strengthening communication, increasing the number of staff and implementing the program.”
imojadad@sfexaminer.com
