San Jose Unified students to start school year at home

SAN JOSE >> San Jose Unified School District students will spend at least the first six weeks of the school year learning from home and not in the classroom, Superintendent Nancy Albarrán announced in a letter late Thursday.

The decision follows a survey that found a majority of parents and teachers favored distance learning amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic. The teachers union also recently announced that teachers opposed in-person instruction at the outset.

“Given the current spread of the virus in Santa Clara County, the position of our teachers, and the results of the community survey, San Jose Unified has concluded that the best possible next step for reopening schools on August 12, 2020, is fully at home learning for all students for at least the first six weeks of the instructional calendar, through October 2, 2020,” Albarrán wrote.

According to the survey, 54% of parents — 5,936 of 11,063 — said they would have a student attend school at home and 81% of teachers — 1,056 of 1,297 — supported at-home instruction. More than 80% of all respondents — 10,959 of 13,764 — were willing to commit to home instruction for the first half of the school year.

By noontime Friday, the decision aligned with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration that counties on the state’s watchlist, which includes Santa Clara County, should begin fall instruction online only, as many other school districts across the state had already decided over the past several days, among them the larger ones like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Oakland.

In late June, a San Jose Unified task force agreed on a reopening plan that could flex between students being fully at home to students being fully at school based on local health orders.

“Fortunately, our reopening plan included the possibility of all students being fully at home, and we have continued building the necessary infrastructure to support this plan,” Albarrán said.

Distance learning will be “significantly different” than it was in the spring, Albarrán said. For example, every student will receive an iPad or Chromebook and hotspots will be provided to families who do not have high-speed internet; video conferencing cameras have been ordered for every classroom to enable teachers to provide live instruction.

In addition, the district is drafting behavior standards for students and teachers and developing a grab-andgo meal service system that does not interrupt home learning time.

On the first day of school, the district expects students to be enrolled at their normal school and assigned to the school’s typical bell schedule, Albarrán said. Teachers will take regular attendance and stream live instruction from their classrooms to their students.

Albarrán expressed disappointment that the district could not welcome at least some of its students back on campuses.

“We believe that in-person instruction, even in a limited capacity, is the best way to serve our students. We are gravely concerned about the widening opportunity gap, with our most vulnerable students disproportionately affected by not being able to attend school in person,” she said.

“We also accept the reality of our situation. As a country, as a state, and as a county, we have not been successful in slowing the spread of the virus and flattening the curve.”

As of Thursday, Santa Clara County had confirmed 7,046 cases of COVID-19, the 11th most in the state, according to data compiled by this news organization.