Excitement, relief as S.F. reopens schools
Youngest students make up first wave to return to classrooms
Thousands of families across San Francisco waved goodbye to their little ones Monday morning, sending them to school for the first time in more than a year and less than eight weeks before the end of the school year, many expressing the same sentiment: Finally.
They had watched dozens of private schools and neighboring public districts reopen months ago, even as their children continued to attend school online, battling frustration, boredom and anxiety.
The district was among the last large school systems in the country to bring students back, reopening part time at 22 elementary schools as well as 14 preschool and county sites Monday. Another 71 campuses are expected to open for inperson learning by the end of April, with about 22,000 of the district’s 52,000 students in classrooms.
The reopening followed months of political bickering, labor negotiations and a lawsuit.
“This is amazing,” said Mayor London Breed as she watched students file into Bret Harte Elementary School in the Bayview just before 8:30 a.m. “It took a lot of work, and honestly a lot of peo
ple putting aside the drama.”
There were some tears as parents nudged kindergartners inside, while first and secondgraders stood in line, their shirts and skirts pressed, new sneakers on little feet and hair combed into place with gel.
The first wave of students, preschool through secondgraders, came back to schools on Monday. The second and third waves of students, including older elementary students and those with high needs, will return on April 19 and April 26.
Families have the option of remaining in distance learning, with teachers online with those students in the afternoons.
The district now faces a potential teacher shortage, with 290 teachers qualifying for a medical exemption, allowing them to remain at home rather than return for inperson instruction. That means the district must cover those classrooms with substitutes for the remainder of the school year.
As of last week, the district was short at least 50 substitutes.
Administrators are recruiting temporary teachers and contracting with an outside agency to ensure there are enough qualified instructors in classrooms when additional students return in the coming weeks.
At Bret Harte, about 80% of the school’s 220 students opted to return, and all classrooms were staffed Monday.
Outside the school, families started lining up more than 30 minutes early, all of them masked, their children’s eyes betraying some nerves.
Cassandra Mancilla stood next to her son, Brayden, a shy kindergartner, who wasn’t quite sure what would happen during the day. He thought he might do some reading.
“I think they need school,” his mom said. “He’s been having a hard time staying focused. It’s been really tough for him.” The reopening followed months of pressure from the city attorney, parents and teachers in the form of a lawsuit, protests and a recall petition for three board members.
The district initially planned to reopen in January, but failed to reach an agreement with the teachers union until early March.
The school board continues to face backlash for failing to bring back the overwhelming majority of middle and high school students, and for strict daily schedules that leave teachers little time to prepare for class.
Parent Taihua Zhang, who spoke through an interpreter, said he was relieved his 4yearold son, James, can go back to preschool. The family has been “hoping for this day for a while,” the father said.
On Monday morning, however, James was less excited for his first day at Jefferson Early Education School in the Sunset. His three older brothers aren’t returning to classrooms this week, Zhang said, so James doesn’t understand why he has to go.
Zhang, parenting four boys alone while his wife is training for the military, is grateful to manage only three children at home instead of four.
“I can only do so much at home to teach them,” he said.
With the rise of antiAsian hate crimes, some Asian families are choosing to keep their children home if they can, but Zhang said he feels it’s safe.
“I think it’s going to be OK,” he said. “I believe in the government.”
Bay Area schools open since fall have seen little to no transmission of the virus.
Buena Vista Horace Mann teacher Laura Crahan is excited for reopening, “but also a bit uncertain.”
“So much will be different,” said the special education teacher, adding she expects seven of her students to return to her classroom this week.
District officials said they hope to bring back an additional grade in middle or high school before midMay, which would mean the San Francisco schools could qualify for additional state funding. But it was unlikely that all secondary students would return before fall.
The goal is to bring back as many students as possible before summer, said school board member Jenny Lam.
“We’ve been through so much as a community,” Lam said. “We can do it, we know how to do it.”
Not all families, however, were ready to return.
According to a January survey, over half of eligible students were planning on returning to inperson instruction. White families were the most likely to go back, at just over 80%, and Asian families were the least likely to return, at 36%. Around 60% of both African American and Latino families were planning to attend in person.
Jonathan Sánchez, whose son, Necalli, is in kindergarten at Cesar Chávez Elementary School in the Mission, feels strongly about sending Necalli back.
“As a Latino person, as a proactive progressive Latino father, I’m here to say I want to go back,” Sánchez said, adding he plans to take Necalli for ice cream after school, a rare treat. “Kids need to feel this excitement of going back to school right now,” he said.
On Tuesday, the school board pledged to invite students back to schools for inperson instruction full time, five days a week in the fall. Remote learning will still be an option for students who choose not to return for medical, social or academic reasons.
“We want students back,” said Superintendent Vince Matthews. “We believe this is how we do education best.”