SFUSD Shares Updates on Return to In-Person Learning

Posted Date

SFUSD Shares Updates on Return to In-Person Learning

Press Release

First wave of school sites inspected and ready; Board calls on City for support with vaccines, regular testing, and public transit

San Francisco (February 17, 2021) - The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and the SF Board of Education shared that six school sites have been inspected by the San Francisco Department of Public Health and these facilities are ready for safe in-person learning. The six sites are part of the Wave 1 group of elementary schools: Alvarado, Cobb, Glen Park, Lawton, John Muir, and Sunset. The District is preparing additional school sites, with 15,000 windows across over 1,600 classrooms inspected and working with site leaders at each school in the first waves to plan how their school will meet health and safety guidelines. 

Conditions on the dashboard must be met in order for schools to open for in-person learning. A tentative agreement between SFUSD and a group of labor unions representing SFUSD employees  on the health and safety standards for in-person learning is expected to be ratified by the Board of Education on February 23, and SFUSD and the teachers’ union are scheduled to bargain every day the rest of this week to negotiate impacts on the instructional plan.

“We are asking for help from the City of San Francisco to support work within the purview of city departments including prioritizing school staff for vaccines; conducting student and staff surveillance testing every two weeks; and providing sufficient public transportation infrastructure for students and staff,” said Board President Gabriela Lopez. “We cannot open school sites without real support from the City. Our children deserve to have us working together now.”

In the recently released CA Safe Schools for All map from the California Department of Education, out of the 10 largest public school districts in California, of which SFUSD is one, nine remain entirely in distance learning. Similarly, out of the 10 largest public school districts in the Bay Area, nine remain entirely in distance learning.

“The challenges and complexities of reopening our public schools during the pandemic cannot be overstated and are not unique to SFUSD,” said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews. “SFUSD is committed to providing in-person learning and to also supporting students in distance learning whose families prefer that option.”

As work continues for students and staff to safely return to in-person learning, educators continue to provide instruction every day in distance learning. The District has distributed and provided technical support for over 40,000 technology devices and has delivered over 5 million meals since March 2020.

More information regarding SFUSD’s preparations for in-person learning:

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