- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
As students continue working away from classrooms, state offers new resources to help with distance learning
“Due to the current safety concerns and needs for ongoing social distancing it currently appears that our students will not be able to return to school campuses before the end of the school year. This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year, but rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond wrote in his Tuesday letter.
Thurmond continued, “We acknowledge that students only being able to be served through distance learning creates hardships for some students, families, and educators. However, we are urging a safety first approach out of an abundance of caution.”
Thurmond said all school districts in California are urged to move towards and/or continue to strengthen their distance learning programs and opportunities for students.
“We believe this sustains the safety of our students and families, provides consistency across schools in the state, and provides our districts and educators with clarity and the ability to plan for delivering education for the rest of this school year through a distance learning model,” Thurmond said.
He said the California Department of Education is prepared to assist the distance learning efforts of school districts, has provided guidance and resources on distance learning and will continue to enhance that guidance.
Thurmond said the agency also will provide webinars and training “and is forging public-private partnerships with leaders in technology and the philanthropic sector to help expand home devices and internet access where possible and where available resources and donations allow.”
He added, “We know that we are dealing with a never seen before health crisis that challenges us in many ways. But we also believe that as it relates to educating California students we must rise to meet that challenge, that we are stronger together, and that if we work together we can do more together for all of our students.”
Last week, the county’s district superintendents – in consultation with Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg and Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace – decided to extend student dismissals from regular school attendance from their original April 10 date through May 1 as part of the effort to slow the spread of novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, as Lake County News has reported.
Although students are dismissed from attendance on campuses, Falkenberg said schools aren’t closed.
“They have dismissed students from regular attendance and have begun the transition to distance learning,” he said.
Falkenberg said what is best for Los Angeles or Sacramento may not be appropriate for Lake County.
“I am confident that the school districts of Lake County, in consultation with Public Health, will proceed in a manner that meets the needs of local communities and Lake County as a whole,” he said.
Thurmond’s Tuesday letter was followed on Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a major agreement between teachers, classified employees, school boards, superintendents and principals to work together to provide distance learning to California’s students as a result of school closures due to mitigation efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Governor’s Office said the agreement means more children will be able to get school resources, such as quality distance instruction, and empowers teachers to create lessons within clear parameters.
“While schools might be physically closed, class is still in session,” said Gov. Newsom. “This agreement is good news for students and parents, and the announcement means that more California kids will have tools to learn at home during this crisis.”
“The labor and management groups understand the importance of all of us working together during this unprecedented time. The framework for this collaboration created jointly, models how we can all come together to better serve our students,” said Thurmond in response to the agreement.
The Governor’s Office said the agreement includes a collaboration framework for school employers and employees to work together on matters of labor and management to minimize any impact to students – including direction on implementation and delivery of distance learning, special education, and meals through the end of the school year.
On Wednesday the Governor also announced a partnership with Google to provide mobile hotspots and Chromebooks to students in rural areas to facilitate distance learning.
Google will be donating Chromebooks and will fund the use of 100,000 donated mobile hotspots to provide free and unlimited high-speed Internet connectivity for the remainder of the school year.
The California Department of Education will be distributing these resources, prioritizing rural communities, the Governor’s Office said.
Falkenberg said the funding and philanthropy to support online learning, as identified by the governor, will help Lake County.
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