Extra jitters over delta for S.F. kids’ first day back
More than 50,000 San Francisco students walked, skipped or ran into the city’s fully reopened public schools Monday, many for the first time in 17 months, their laughter, squeals and joy filling playgrounds and high school hallways.
It was, many said, a moment they had dreamed of and at times had lost hope of seeing during the long months of distance learning.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Mayor London Breed said at Carver Elementary on Monday morning in the Bayview.
But families and staff are still facing uncertainty. The reopening of schools comes amid a fourth surge, with the delta variant pushing up case
counts and hospitalizations.
“I understand there are concerns,” Breed added. “But it’s also important kids be able to socialize, to be in classrooms.”
For middle and high school students, most of whom hadn’t stepped inside a school in more than 500 days, it was an especially significant day, a return to something akin to normalcy.
At Balboa High School, masked students huddled nervously outside before a teacher asked them to begin heading inside to class. Wingston Corado started his sophomore year Monday but had never stepped foot on campus before.
Wingston said it felt like this was his first high school experience: standing outside feeling nervous about barely knowing anyone. He said he’s also unsure how safe he feels being in classrooms with the virus surging.
“I’m just trying to not touch a lot of stuff, just the things I need to,” Wingston said.
One bit of good news for Wingston and his classmates is that San Francisco has one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, with 84% of children ages 12 to 17 fully vaccinated, public officials said.
District officials said they are adhering to county health guidelines, which do not require social distancing or daily wellness checks by school staff.
Instead, families should self-screen for symptoms and stay home if they have any. Classrooms will have portable air cleaners, windows that open or mechanical ventilation to comply with the guidelines, Superintendent Vince Matthews said.
While the vast majority of students returned to in-person learning, nearly 700 remained in online classes, opting for a continued virtual education because of health concerns. They will be assigned teachers who are doing only distance learning, although online students can decide to return to full-time in-person learning at their assigned school later in the year.
“We know the best place for students is in person,” Matthews said Monday morning.
Matthews noted that there will be coronavirus cases in schools. The focus, however, will be on preventing transmission in schools — something the district successfully did in the spring, when schools partially reopened.
There were no cases from in-school transmission in the city’s public schools last school year, Matthews said.
In Oakland, officials reported 58 students and 10 staff members had tested positive since the district reopened its 100 schools on Aug. 9. Two classrooms so far — at Montclair Elementary and Oakland High School — have required students to quarantine due to outbreaks.
So far, there is no indication any of the cases in Oakland were acquired at the schools. The district has been offering frequent testing of students and staff prior to reopening and in the days since.
Oakland and San Francisco will require all teachers and staff to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing starting on Sept. 7.
At Everett Middle School, nearly 600 students filed onto the Mission neighborhood campus, greeting classmates they hadn’t seen since March 13, 2020.
Joy David De Lassy, 12, stood near the gate alone, waiting for friends to arrive. While it was the first day of seventh grade, she hadn’t seen classmates since elementary school.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get anything wrong,” she said of navigating the middle school hallways and class schedule. “At least I know I’m not the only one that’s missed a whole year of school.”
As she waited, her fifthgrade classmate Lauren Gaines walked up to say hello. They both looked nervous. Lauren said she felt like she had no idea what she was supposed to do.
Still, that didn’t dampen either of their spirits.
“I feel just really excited,” Joy said, as students headed into classrooms. “This feels good.”
Everett Principal Esther Fensel said dozens of students and parents arrived more than an hour early, excited and ready to be back in person. Of the 600 students, only five inquired about online learning even as the delta variant pushes cases higher, Fensel said.
As the first classes of the day started, students huddled at their homeroom desks, their giggles and chatter coming through masks.
The city’s teachers union also celebrated the return of students.
“We know it’s important to have our little ones back at school, back where they belong,” Frank Lara, vice president of the United Educators of San Francisco, said in a statement.
Younger students were also excited the first day, with dozens filing into Carver Elementary to cheers from parents, teachers and city officials on Monday morning.
Zayna Robinson White, 8, was ready for third grade there. She had new blue shoes, a new uniform, two backup masks, a new silver Warriors backpack and a birthday cake granola bar. It was a day to celebrate.
“I’m really excited,” she said, noting that she was a first-grader the last time she was in school. “I’ve gotten taller. I’ve gotten smarter.”
While students were excited at the day’s start, many expressed relief when the first day back was behind them.
After school, Willie Brown Jr. Middle School sixth-grader David Obillo said he was unsure how to feel going into his first day.
But he got paired with another student in his social studies class and rejoiced at getting to work together to solve a crossword puzzle in class. It was a happy departure from the isolation of online learning.
“It felt really nice because then I didn’t have to worry about anything,” he said standing outside the school. “I had somebody to talk to.”