SLO County districts turn their focus to a back-to-school that begins remotely
Back-to-school in San Luis Obispo County will occur entirely online after the governor issued a new state order on Friday, and now districts can turn their attention to executing that plan as successfully as possible.
At a Friday news conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that public and private schools in the more than 30 counties currently on the state’s COVID-19 watchlist will be prohibited from physically reopening their doors this fall.
That includes schools in San Luis Obispo County, which landed on the watchlist this week, even as some districtrs were trying to plan for models that would bring students back to campus.
Two of the county’s biggest school districts, San Luis Coastal and Lucia Mar, already had opted for plans that started the academic year with distance learning models.
County schools Superintendent James Brescia said earlier this week that some of the smaller districts were set up to better arrange socially distant in-person learning and prevent the spread of coronavirus, adding that county schools were encouraged to initiate planning with the hopes of bringing students back earlier this summer.
But that planning will have to be put on hold after Newsom’s latest strict guideline to help control the spread of coronavirus.
“We all need to understand the obstacles facing students and their families,” Brescia told The Tribune in an email Friday. “Students and families may face limits in their ability to access distance learning formats due to factors such as device availability or internet connectivity. In addition, distractions may abound for students and families who face stressors at home.”
Brescia added, “Educators must practice flexibility to these obstacles and continue to empathize with and accommodate students and families while balancing state accountability expectations.”
Brescia said many of the local school districts are exploring childcare options and working with internal and external providers.
“I anticipate there will be additional childcare centers across the county in August,” he said.
Brescia told The Tribune earlier this week that at the end of last school year, teachers who were forced to shift to online education on the fly reported challenges that included a lack of responsiveness on assignments from some students.
“Instructors will need to establish precisely what the learning objectives are for a given lesson and communicate expectations for distance learning with students and families in writing and ‘live’ reminders (e.g., video chat, phone calls),” Brescia said. “Objectives and directions will be simple and easy for students and families to understand without compromising students’ ability to engage in higher-order thinking and rigorous instructional tasks.”
San Luis Coastal plans more ‘live’ interactions
Assistant Superintendent Kimberly McGrath said that San Luis Coastal will be coordinating with resource agencies and communities to help accommodate childcare arrangements to help working parents.
“We don’t have details yet, but that’s something we’ll be working on,” McGrath said.
McGrath said the district will be ensuring more synchronous learning than last year, meaning teachers and students will hold more “live” interactions, whether through online video conferencing or chats, and ensure attendance is strictly monitored.
She said groups such as kindergartners and incoming high school students, transitioning into a new school, will be equipped with the online educational tools to succeed.
“We don’t want any child to fall behind in their educational instruction, and they’ll be equipped to succeed,” McGrath said.
Paso Robles district shelves hybrid model
Despite all efforts to have a hybrid model in place to allow students at least some time in the classroom, Paso Robles Unified Superintendent Curt Dubost said the governor’s order makes sense due to the current situation.
“We always feared that even if we planned to go forward with our plan, that we’d be forced to close,” he said.
The school district is now shifting its focus to finding the best way to educate its students with distance learning, including working to provide childcare, internet access to those in need and meals.
“We still believe the best solution for many, many students is to remain in school,” Dubost said.
Dubost also said that the district has received hundreds of “gut-wrenching” emails from families describing how difficult and detrimental online learning is for their children.
“I’m never giving up,” Dubost said. “We want to keep the ability to nimbly transition to and from distance learning.”
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 2:18 PM.
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