Happy New Year! First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all that you are doing to hold your family together while we collectively learn how to live with COVID surges in our community.

 

Please know that at SFUSD we are prioritizing keeping schools open through increasing access to multiple forms of testing, increasing the supply of KN95 masks for school staff and surgical masks for children.  We are committed to alerting you if there is a close contact at school and we have begun working with a contact tracing vendor to help alleviate some of the work from school site staff. Is everything working as we wish at all our schools and for all our students, staff and families? Unfortunately, we know it is not. I want to recognize that different students and families, staff members and school communities are experiencing different things right now - we have nearly 52,000 students and 9,000 staff at 120 PK-12 schools. 

 

Some days students won't learn as much because of too few staff or because they have to miss school due to COVID or being a close contact. Some families are confused by the testing options or can't get an appointment. The list of challenges goes on. We are committed to continuing to improve our approach to this unprecedented crisis.

 

In spite of the pandemic, our schools continue to be places where students have their curiosity sparked and find joy in learning;  receive free and nutritious meals; where they learn how to play an instrument and get involved in a sport; and where meaningful relationships are formed.

 

Throughout this pandemic we have been fortunate to work with some of the best public health experts in the world right here in San Francisco; they continue to guide us based on data and science.  We live in a highly vaccinated community and are well-positioned to weather this storm. We will get through this and see better days, hopefully very very soon. 

 

Learn more about our efforts and find resources below.