March 11 Letter to Families
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Dear SFUSD Community:
As the coronavirus’ spread continues, we are all concerned for our loved ones and there is a lot of uncertainty. At SFUSD, the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and their families is front of mind.
This continues to be a rapidly evolving situation, and we are grateful to everyone for their patience and understanding. SFUSD staff are following guidelines from public health experts for minimizing non-essential activities and ramping up health education, cleaning and other preventative measures. Below are some of the steps we are taking. More details can be found on our COVID-19 Resources for Families and Students page.
Keeping Schools Open
At this time the experts at the SF Department of Public Health do not recommend broad public school closures. We have given this idea of citywide school closures careful consideration. Given that schools are an essential service with multiple community benefits and children have not been shown to be a high-risk group for serious illness from this virus, SFUSD is planning to keep our schools open at this time.
In San Francisco, we know the virus is here in our community and does not stop at the doors of our schools. As our access to testing increases, so will the number of confirmed cases. It is only a matter of time before a student or staff member in a school has a diagnosis of COVID-19.
SFUSD will be notified by the SF Department of Public Health when there is a confirmed case of a student or staff member with regular contact with others at the school. SFUSD health professionals will work with the SF Department of Public Health to determine the best next steps based on the facts in each case.
Families May Choose to Keep Kids Out of School Without Penalty
Families know what’s best for their children and we will honor your decision to keep your child home from school. Absences will be excused. Please contact your child’s school if you will be keeping your child home. We are working with teachers to provide educational activities in the event of students having prolonged absences.
Cancelling Non-essential School and District Events
School is essential to many and so we are keeping schools open at this time. However, in response to Public Health recommendations to limit social contact, non-essential events that bring large groups of students, adults, and community members together have been canceled, including student athletics.
Stay Home If Sick or at Risk of Health Complications from the Flu
Please help us by keeping sick children home. If students exhibit illness or COVID-19-like symptoms, school staff will contact a parent or guardian to pick up the student immediately. If you have a child with chronic health conditions, consult your doctor about school attendance.
Cleaning Practices
The district is ensuring every school has soap at cleaning stations and teachers are instructing students on good handwashing practices, among other disease prevention practices. School custodians are cleaning common and high touch areas multiple times a day.
Preparing for a Possible School Closure
We are exploring how to provide online and paper based distance learning and maintain a meal program in the event of a prolonged absence or school closure. We recognize that most, but not all, students have regular access to technology or the internet.
Stay Informed
If you have not done so already, activate your Family Portal (ParentVUE) account today and update your contact information to ensure you receive district and school notifications. We are mailing home activation codes with instructions on how to sign up the week of March 16th. Questions? Please fill out our help form at bit.ly/familyportalhelp
For the most recent updates and resources from SFUSD regarding the virus please visit our website. As this is a rapidly changing situation, we will be updating information on our website frequently.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews
This page was last updated on March 12, 2020