SFUSD + Parents + SF Business = Supports to kids & teachers
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2022, who asked for you anyway?! To say SFUSD has had a bumpy start to this new year is an understatement. What we thought was overwhelming in the fall, well, January is presenting next level. Teachers are stressed and lacking PPE, principals are able to do nothing beyond contact tracing, and parents are feeling a mixture of confused, anxious, and helpless.
But this week our community showed what it’s capable of when things hit a low.
Over one hundred parents signed up within a matter of days, to volunteer for SFUSD to distribute testing kits and PPE to students and teachers. Fifty-eight parents and community members signed up to begin the substitute application process, because of how omicron is leading to a shortage of teachers and staff in many of our schools. The phones were ringing off the hook—business leaders, public health officials, central office staff, principals, teachers, parents—*coming together* and figuring out how to solve these problems before us, to keep our kids’ learning and well-being at the forefront.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all who signed up or showed up this week. It’s been all hands on deck for our kids, for our schools.🙏
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- SFUSD plays catch up for problematic Week 1, taking on massive PPE distribution during Week 2 following winter break. Very few of us felt happy with SFUSD upon return from winter break. What was their plan? When would the test kits arrive? When would our teachers get important PPE like high-quality masks? Finally this week we saw things kick into action. SFUSD began distributing thousands of take-home test kits to students and teachers and KN95 masks. The PPE and kits were provided by CA DPH, SF DPH, and the SF business community—Twitter, Salesforce, Tipping Point, Twilio, Airbnb, and LuciraHealth. The City is also providing 150,000 additional KN95 masks for teachers and 500,000 surgical masks for students. SF Parent Coalition called for more testing and PPE from SFUSD and the City, and we’re glad to see it all fall into place now.
- Board of Education meetings kick off for the year. On Tuesday evening at the first Board meeting of 2022, President Gabriela López was reelected as president, and Jenny Lam was elected as Vice President, replacing Faauuga Moliga. We’re thrilled for VP Lam, and this is a position well-deserved. If anyone on the School Board fought hardest for students—from reopening to addressing AAPI concerns to solving our budget deficit—it’s Jenny Lam. As the meeting progressed, the Parent Advisory Council gave an emotional report acknowledging the need for in-person learning but also noting the real fears and anxiety of many families and staff currently, and high school students expressed real disappointment in the district. We feel for our youth and hope the district meets with them to address their requests. Central Office staff presented a clear plan for supporting schools to remain open, which was met with mixed responses during public comment. The district also announced a new vendor starting this week to support contact tracing efforts, which will hopefully lighten some of the burden on our overwhelmed principals.
- Teacher and staff appreciation. Our hearts were warmed seeing many photos and hearing stories of teacher and staff appreciation treats that various schools organized this week. Parents have been bringing everything from fruits and donuts and extra N95 masks to teachers and staff, and offering help to principals. Keep it up folks; these are trying times, and our support goes a long way.
- Volunteer to support our schools. If we learned anything this week, it’s what can be accomplished for our schools when parents are included in the picture. Our work at the warehouse and 555 Franklin Street *doubled* the speed to which our district was able to get PPE, masks, and test kits out to kids and teachers. Let’s keep it up, and be there for our teachers, schools, and students.
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FAQs: Schools & COVID
- Current guidance. There’s so much swirl and confusion about COVID-related policies and changes, it’s hard to stay on top of current guidance. From SFUSD’s updated COVID safety protocol pages 22-24:
- Students and staff who are close contacts and who are up to date for vaccination* for COVID-19 or who had COVID-19 in the previous 3 months don’t have to quarantine as long as they don’t have symptoms. Recommend staff or student who are up to date on COVID-19 vaccination* get tested on day 5 or later after their last close contact.
- *Up-to-Date on Vaccination means you are either (a) two weeks past completing the full initial course of vaccines—either two doses of Moderna or Pfizer or one dose of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine AND (b) one week after receiving a Booster of any type once a person is eligible for a Booster.
- If staff or student had a positive COVID‑19 test or was diagnosed with COVID‑19, negative tests before returning now can include either an antigen or PCR test, “but an antigen test is preferred to leave isolation or in people who have had a recent COVID-19 infection. Over the counter tests are now acceptable to end isolation or quarantine.”
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AD17 Candidate Forum on Public Education with David Campos, Matt Haney, Bilal Mahmood, & Thea Selby
Hosted by SF Parent Coalition, Together SF, Second District PTA & Parents for Public Schools on Monday January 10th
- Candidates for Assembly District 17 talk public education with SFParents and cohosting organizations. On Monday night, SF Parents, along with TogetherSF, Second District PTA, and Parents for Public Schools, hosted an engaging forum on public education with candidates for the Assembly District 17 seat, David Campos, Matt Haney, Bilal Mahmood, and Thea Selby. KQED Moderators Marisa Lagos and Guy Marzorati did a phenomenal job keeping things lively and engaging. Thanks to everyone who joined! If you missed it, we definitely recommend taking the time to check out the recording, here. 🍿
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In the News
- A full month in, here’s how San Francisco’s omicron surge is unfolding, SF Gate
- Opinion | Schools must remain open — our kids have lost so much, SF Examiner
- SFUSD failed the Covid-19 testing test, Mission Local
- ‘I’m barely clinging onto work’: Exhausted parents face another wave of school shutdowns, Washington Post
- Time to reset coronavirus school policies. Here’s a road map., Washington Post
- California official: Schools can return to remote learning due to staff shortages, Politico
- Opinion | How School Closures Made Me Question My Progressive Politics, Politico
- Funding for schools, community colleges to break $100 billion in Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget, EdSource
- Opinion |Recall won’t fix S.F.’s schools. Neither will Breed’s plan. Here’s what might, SF Chronicle
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SF Parent Coalition is a fiscally-sponsored project of the 501c3 Community Initiatives. We center the needs of children and youth in San Francisco public schools by bringing together a diverse network of parents and caregivers to advocate for a thriving, equitable school system. We also have an affiliate 501c4 organization, SF Parent Action, working towards greater school board accountability and electing candidates who support public school families and students.
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