Protest march to demand full S.F. school reopening
Families and some educators are planning to protest for the full reopening of San Francisco public schools, one year after school closures and days after the school board approved plans to bring younger children as well as special education and vulnerable students back to classrooms for inperson learning starting next month.
Decreasing the Distance, a group advocating for reopening classrooms, is organizing the march, which will depart from Alamo Square Park at 11 a.m. Saturday, and will conclude with a noon rally with Mayor London Breed at Civic Center Plaza.
“When did the idea that kids should be in school become controversial, and what does that say about our city’s values?” executive member of Decreasing the Distance Yvette Edwards said in a statement. “The law and science are clear: Kids need to be in school. Period.”
The planned protest is one of many actions parents, city officials and some educators have taken to pressure the district to reopen schools. It follows months of demonstrations, a possible recall of school board members and an unprecedented lawsuit brought by the city. Proponents of reopening say it can be done safely, arguing that children are suffering and citing the emotional toll of distance learning. Opponents say the safety of families and school staff must take precedence.
District leaders say they are working hard to return as many students as possible and they recognize that “students have been struggling.”
The group organizing the march is demanding the “immediate safe reopening of all public schools for all interested students, five days a week.” Current plans call for some students to attend nearly five full days with others attending two days, depending on demand for inperson instruction at each school.
Bringing back all students five days a week is complicated by health guidelines that require 4 feet of distance between desks, reducing the ability to fit big groups into classrooms.
The district hasn’t said why it’s not yet bringing back middle and high school students, but their return was not part of a recent deal with the teachers union.
The march organizers are also asking for “a binding commitment from the SFUSD Board of
Education that students will be offered five full days of school with inperson teachers beginning on the first day of school year 20212022.”
The district released a statement Friday saying it is committed to reopening schools for preK to 12thgrade students in the fall, but did not specify five full days a week.
“We see health condi
tions improving and we will continue working with public health authorities, labor unions, educators, staff, families and other stakeholders to create an equitable and safe plan for reopening all our schools by next fall,” the statement from Superintendent Vincent Matthews and school board President Gabriela López said.
On Thursday, the school board approved plans to begin bringing back inperson learning for preschool through fifthgraders, special education students and vulnerable older groups starting April 12, following months of bitter debate with the teachers union. Teachers have until Saturday to vote on the deal.
Some teachers have been critical of the plan, expressing concerns about proposed schedules that leave little time for planning lessons or bathroom breaks. The union is organizing a car caravan for Sunday to demand changes to the daily schedule, which is separate from the formal agreement.