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San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten
Given that California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency over the Coronavirus in the state, here is an interesting article and information we received and discovered this past week regarding the impact to K-12 education…
BE WELL…TAKE PRECAUTIONS!
4 Crucial Pieces of Guidance as Districts Prepare Coronavirus Response
As COVID-19 spreads, states and districts already affected by the outbreak share tips around continuing learning and district services during closures.
Quote from Article:
Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first advised schools to prepare for increased employee and student absenteeism last week, many schools and districts on the West Coast and in a handful of states nationwide impacted by the coronavirus have temporarily shuttered buildings due to outbreaks.
Washington and California have been hit hardest so far, with the CDC reporting 39 and 36 cases, respectively, as of Thursday. “There’s a lot of anxiety from parents,” Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said, “and that has translated to a presumption of risk and has led to schools closing.”
The state’s Northshore School District announced a district-wide closure Wednesday for up to two weeks, one of the first Washington districts to do so. Schools that remain open in Washington, California and other affected areas have ramped up cleaning efforts, put in place hygiene and quarantine protocols, and are closely monitoring absenteeism rates while also preparing for worst-case scenarios.
And…
Here’s what Education Dive has learned far about how districts are navigating coronavirus.
Focus on equity and access with e-learning
As the number of cases climb, districts are grappling with decisions around closure and their options to mitigate school year disruptions with e-learning.
Many large districts have the infrastructure in place for a transition to online learning should the virus spread to their areas. Superintendent of Florida’s Miami-Dade County Public Schools Alberto Carvalho, for example, said his district has an excess of 1:1 devices ready to be deployed if needed, and Superintendent Austin Beutner said Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for virtual school days in its planning, as well.
Districts in Washington are also training teachers for e-learning. “We have a couple districts that feel very poised to deliver continuous instruction at a distance through Zoom and online learning platforms,” Reykdal said. But, he added, he “cautioned all districts to consider if they can deliver services equitably.”
And…
For students with IEPs, Trimberger suggested using virtual days as an opportunity to build relationships with parents of special needs students. “With caseloads of 15 to 20 students,” he explained, “we made sure that every virtual day our teachers were reaching out.”
And…
E-learning not an option? There are workarounds
Against a backdrop of ongoing staff shortages and already-tight budgets, many districts may not have the resources for 1:1 device programs.
“We aren’t necessarily equipped, at this moment, to handle distance learning for large numbers of students,” said Elizabeth Graser, chief communications officer for Oregon’s Hillsboro School District. The CDC reports a small number of cases in the state. “And with a sub shortage going on already in our region … we’ll need to get very creative about finding every employee with a teaching license, using conditional emergency licenses for staff where appropriate, etc.”
In the absence of 1:1 devices, Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, said a majority of districts across the country are working on providing traditional paper packets to get content home with students. The preparation is for roughly two weeks of materials, considering guidance from the CDC is for a 14-day quarantine after onset of symptoms.
In a letter to Washington state districts, Reykdal suggested some might be better off closing instead of continuing learning remotely.
“School districts must ensure equal access to education for all students,” he advised. “It will likely make more sense to cancel school and/or district services and make up missed days at the end of the school year, rather than deploying a distance learning model that can be accessed by some, but not all, of your students.”
And…
Cutting it close to maxing out makeup days? Here’s what to do
Districts often try to cushion allotted instructional time to allow for days off due to inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances. But those cutting it close can be helped by waivers of lost instructional time, which many states grant in case of an emergency.
And…
California’s waiver policy is similar. “Generally, if it’s health and safety related, it’s hard to deny those kinds of waivers because you’re forced into a situation of having [schools] closed,” San Juan Unified School District spokesperson Raj Rai said.
The district’s Harry Dewey Fundamental Elementary School was closed last year after several students contracted norovirus. “In the past, if there has been a school threat where a school has to shut down, California Department of Education has granted waivers for that, too,” Rai said.
And…
What operations should remain functional during closures?
The Washington ed department, called the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, is advising districts to plan for ongoing apportionment payments and to ensure payroll continues even in the case of disrupted district operations.
But providing meals for students on free or reduced priced lunches will be difficult. “It’s impossible for schools to deliver meals to the home of each child,” Domenech said.
However, Trimberger said that’s a possible solution he is considering, along with letting families pick up meals at an off-site location. “I still would want to try to get our families two meals a day,” he said, but added he is looking for more guidance from the CDC and his nutrition teams as to what “no contact” to prevent disease transmission means in the context of meal distribution.
Finding a way to provide meals in case schools close is a challenge Reykdal is facing as well.
“When we shut down over here for a snowstorm, we don’t provide meals for that day,” he said. He added if schools transition online instead of closing, parents could expect meals to still be provided.
For Washington’s Seattle Public Schools, that’s the goal: continuing to provide meals through potential closures. If only a few schools are closed, the district is planning for students to pick up meals at another nearby school. In the case of multiple campus closures, it hopes to provide sack lunches at a grab-and-go location.
And…
Reykdal said he is working with the USDA to make sure his districts “understand rules around meals when schools are not operational.”
But the agency’s western regional Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) office, based in California, said it won’t be providing further guidance, and that whether meals are delivered during closures or extended periods of e-learning is up to individual districts.
District Deeds Synopsis:
This article provided four good suggestions for use by school districts really concerned with maintaining a high level of educational support for ALL their students throughout this Coronavirus epidemic.
Each of these ideas exhibit the striking importance of having strong, experienced school district leadership that is proactive in operational planning and development. Miami-Dade County Public School District and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have made that investment in their budgets to build the infrastructure for online learning in case of an emergency:
Many large districts have the infrastructure in place for a transition to online learning should the virus spread to their areas. Superintendent of Florida’s Miami-Dade County Public Schools Alberto Carvalho, for example, said his district has an excess of 1:1 devices ready to be deployed if needed, and Superintendent Austin Beutner said Los Angeles Unified School District is preparing for virtual school days in its planning, as well.
The phrase “Many large districts have the infrastructure in place for a transition to online learning” caught our eye.
The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is the 7th largest school district in the United States and has had an influx of $4.9 BILLION from Props S and Z Bonds to create a complete technical upgrade according to “Facilities Bond Program: Propositions S & Z” on the SDUSD website.
SDUSD qualifies as a “large district”
A couple questions came to mind…
Does the SDUSD have the planning and infrastructure to protect both student education and health?
Is the SDUSD prepared for “virtual school days” including deployment of 1:1 devices to all students and online school days for ALL schools and communities?
According to multiple sources within the SDUSD, there is absolutely NO PLAN OR POSSIBILITY of either deployment of 1:1 devices to all students and/or online school days despite the $4.9 BILLION investment!!!
To dig deeper into the SDUSD information available we checked out the SDUSD website.
Here is the front page today:
We clicked the “INFORMATION” link for the Coronavirus and were sent to a SDUSD Google website and got the following:
Nothing on the SDUSD Google website gives any information regarding a disaster or emergency plan even though California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 declared a state of emergency over the Coronavirus in the state.
In the FAQ’s we found WHAT ARE SAN DIEGO SCHOOLS DOING ABOUT IT?:
So what are San Diego Unified Schools doing about it?
Handcleaning supplies!!!
Nothing but deferring responsibility to undefined “public health departments at the State and County levels” and implying that a dramatically reduced Custodial staff who are on a 5 days between cleaning schedule at some schools (see Whistleblower Custodial Crusader “Horrors” Prediction Coming True – Dead Rats, Drug Paraphernalia, Used Condoms and Filth On San Diego Unified Campus!!!!) will be able to sanitize all surfaces on SDUSD campuses…an outright lie!
And on the SDUSD Principals Page NOT EVEN A MENTION OF CORONAVIRUS:
No Priority
No Action Required
No notice to Principals to prepare them for what to do if they suspect a Coronavirus case at their school site.
Disgraceful!
Pretty miserable so far but we gave the SDUSD one last chance….TWITTER!
The following tweet by the SDUSD says it all:
Is that it?!?
Those who have been to China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea should “be excluded” from school.? What about students who have family members who visited one of those countries and has a cough or other symptoms?
Or is it what is on the SDUSD Google website:
So “Only students and staff who have been to China” should be “excluded from school”?!?
Is that the final direction regarding Coronavirus attendance to SDUSD Stakeholders including Students, Teachers and Principals?
And to top it all off…
All Coronavirus information from the SDUSD is in ENGLISH ONLY!!!
This is the height of incompetent, and dangerous, ESS Marten’s total lack of leadership.
The SDUSD under ESS Marten is incapable of deploying even one of the 4 suggestions listed in the article.
Marten cannot even deploy the simplest strategies…
No plan provided to Principals, Teachers or Staff to prepare them for what to do if they suspect a Coronavirus case at their school site.
Disorganized, incomplete, conflicting and inaccurate information distributed in “English only” to multilingual Stakeholders.
Total lack of managerial competence, responsibility and transparency.
As usual at the expense of ALL Students, Teachers, Principal, Staff and Families.
Disgraceful.
In place of our Quote of the Week we are providing the following ACCURATE Coronavirus Links and Information:
Parent Guides from Miami-Dade County Public Schools:
LAUSD News Links
• Coronavirus Q&A: What California parents and students should know about COVID-19 (EdSource)
• Responding to coronavirus: A downloadable guide for schools (Education Week)
• Global Medical Mystery: Can Classrooms Spread Coronavirus? (Wall Street Journal)
• Surfaces? Sneezes? Sex? How the Coronavirus Can and Cannot Spread (New York Times)
• Frequently Asked Questions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• What You Need to Know About Coronavirus (Washington Post)
• Key terms of the coronavirus outbreak, explained: From asymptomatic to zoonotic (Seattle Times)
• In a disaster that calls for isolation, your community will help you survive (Curbed)
Have a Safe and Healthy week!!!
__________________________________________________________
IF
- Your family has been injured by the San Diego Unified School District, go to the District Deeds Complaint Forms page to find instructions to fight for your Civil Rights!
- YOU ARE TIRED OF THE COVER UPS AND LIES BY SUPT. CINDY MARTEN…
Please Click the Link Below and sign the Petition Today and READ the COMMENTS to Support the REMOVAL of Marten by SDUSD Stakeholders!
District Deeds 
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