SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Board of Education announced Wednesday, April 7 that they unanimously voted to allow all students in the San Francisco area to return full-time and in-person beginning in August 2021.
“The resolution,” said the SFUSD in a press release, “affirms the SF Board of Education’s ‘firm intention to ensure all students are able to attend full-time, 5 days a week, in-person learning on the first day of school, August 2021.’”
The highest rates of COVID-19 were between November 2020 and February 2021, “but thankfully now San Francisco is experiencing a dramatic decline in community transmission,” said the school board.
The school board noted that the SFUSD staff will work in agreement with the labor partners representing educators and other staff members, along with the family members of the students, to plan for a full-time in-person return.
“SFUSD will adhere to any public health guidelines that will be in place in the fall, assuming that COVID-19 community transmission rates continue to decline. The District will also work on backup plans that adhere to anticipated public health guidelines in the event that community transmission rates rise,” states the press release.
According to the school board, remote learning is still an option if students feel more comfortable with staying home due to medical reasons or “students who may benefit from remote learning for social-emotional, academic reasons or other factors.”
The board of education said in their resolution that it is their “firm intention” to guarantee that “all students are able to attend full-time, 5 days a week, in-person learning on the first day of school, August 2021, and SFUSD will continue to bring as many students back to in-person learning as possible this Spring.”
“We appreciate all educators, staff, students, parents, and caregivers for their resiliency and all the effort that has gone into supporting distanced learning this past year. We also appreciate the many who are now executing a safe and gradual reopening for some of our PK-12 students this spring,” said Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews.
Dr. Matthews added, “We are making progress and look forward to a new beginning next fall that serves all of our students the way we do best –– in our schools.”
