FREE//GRATUITO
PUBLISHED BY ACCIÓN LATINA
Vol. 52 No. 1
January 13-26, 2022
CLASSROOMS IN CRISIS: AS COVID CASES SOAR, SF EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS DEMAND MORE SUPPORT AULAS EN CRISIS: CON LA ALZA DE CASOS COVID, DOCENTES Y ESTUDIANTES DE SF DEMANDAN MAYOR APOYO Alexis Terrazas
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Alexis Terrazas
El Tecolote
he same day San Francisco schools welcomed their students back from winter break on Jan. 3, the city reported 1,894 new cases of COVID-19, the highest number of new cases recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic. As the Omicron variant took root late last year, spreading and sending COVID-19 cases soaring across the country, already depleted educators in San Francisco not only braced for the impact this latest surge would have in their classrooms, but were desperate for answers as to why their schools were woefully ill-equipped with testing kits and high-quality masks. Seemingly basic items they feel would help maintain an adequate safe learning environment for students and themselves. “Imagine trying to do a project when half of your group is home,” said Hector Piñeda, a seventh- grade Social Studies teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Middle School, whose classroom dwindled to as little as six students the week they returned from winter break. “A lot of teachers have children, babies who are unvaccinated. It’s a strange sensation having to come to work and not know if they can come home to their own children. And it’s kind of unfortunate that we’ve gotten to this point.” Frustrations over, what educators are calling, a lack of support by the San Francisco Unified School District have reached a boiling point. The union, United Educators of San Francisco, claims the district opted out of a state program—in exchange for $1.3 million— that would’ve provided test kits and masks. In an email response to El Tecolote, the district said that in March 2021, they entered into a contract with Color—a health tech company providing a high volume COVID-19 testing. “Since that time, SFUSD has spent upwards of $7 million on COVID testing and is preparing to amend the contract by $5.8 million, to a total of $12.8 million, to support ongoing testing for the remainder of this year,” read the email. “We received a $1.2M grant from CDPH to help cover the testing costs. The State had an antigen test kit pilot program which SFUSD applied for but we were told there were not enough test kits available for the request we made.” And with stalled negotiations between the UESF and SFUSD over providing high quality masks (N95, KN95, KN94) for all school staff and students—the district has currently distributed high-quality masks to classroom teachers only—including regular weekly testing and an extension for COVID sick leave, some educators participated in a district wide “sickout” on Jan. 6. A rally was planned for that day in front of the school district offices at 555 Franklin St. And while the rally drew few, educators have made their voice heard. “I don’t want to pretend to know how the funding and everything works behind the scenes. But we’re a pretty big district. And I think this is pretty predictable. COVID has been around for a while and we knew that winter break was coming,” said Katrina Sicairos, who teaches ninth- grade Health at Raoul WalSee CLASSROOMS, page 8
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Kayla y Susana Cárdenas, alumnas de noveno grado en la Leadership High School, asistieron a la marcha ‘sickout’, mostrando su apoyo a lxs docentes que piden Equipo de Proteccion Personal (PPE) al Distrito Escolar Unificado de San Francisco (SFUSD). Kayla and Susana Cardenas, 9th grade students at the public charter Leadership High School, attend the “sickout” rally at 555 Franklin St. on Jan. 6, 2022, showing their solidarity with educators demanding PPE from SFUSD. Photo: Alexis Terrazas
El Tecolote
l mismo día que las escuelas de San Francisco dieron la bienvenida a sus estudiantes después de las vacaciones de invierno, el 3 de enero, la ciudad reportó 1,894 casos nuevos de COVID-19, el mayor número de casos registrados en un solo día desde el comienzo de la pandemia. Cuando la variante de Ómicron echó raíces a fines del año pasado, se propagó y provocó que los casos de COVID-19 se dispararan por todo el país, los de por sí ya agotadxs docentes en San Francisco no solo se prepararon para el impacto que este último aumento tendría en sus aulas, sino que estaban desesperadxs por obtener respuestas en cuanto a por qué sus escuelas estaban lamentablemente mal equipadas con kits de prueba y cubrebocas de alta calidad. Elementos aparentemente básicos que creen que ayudarían a mantener un entorno de aprendizaje seguro y adecuado para sus estudiantes y para ellxs mismxs. “Imagínese tratar de hacer un proyecto cuando la mitad de su grupo está en casa”, dijo Héctor Piñeda, un profesor de Estudios Sociales de séptimo grado en la Escuela Secundaria Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., cuya clase se redujo a tan solo seis estudiantes al regresar de las vacaciones de invierno. “Muchxs maestrxs tienen hijxs, bebés que no están vacunados. Es una sensación extraña tener que venir a trabajar y no saber si pueden volver a casa con sus propixs hijxs. Y es un poco desafortunado que hayamos llegado a este punto”. Las frustraciones por lo que los educadores llaman falta de apoyo por parte del Distrito Escolar Unificado de San Francisco han llegado a un punto de ebullición. El sindicato, United Educators of San Francisco, afirma que el distrito optó por no participar en un programa estatal, a cambio de $1.3 millones, que habría proporcionado kits de prueba y cubrebocas. Vea ESCUELAS, página 8
Andrew Casteel y su hijo de cinco años, Francis, asisten a la marcha ‘sickout’ en el 555 de la calle Franklin, el 6 de enero de 2022, en solidaridad con lxs docentes que están exigiendo al SFUSD les proporcione PPE. Andrew Casteel and his five-year-old child Francis attend the “sickout” rally at 555 Franklin St. on Jan. 6, 2022, showing their solidarity with educators demanding PPE from SFUSD. Photo: Alexis Terrazas
COVID-19 RESOURCE GUIDE • Pages 10 & 11 list where San Francisco residents can receive a COVID-19 test. • Las páginas 10 y 11 contienen el listado de los sitios a los cuales los habitantes de San Francisco pueden acudir a hacerse la prueba de detección del COVID-19.