With the new school year just weeks away, the Fresno Unified School District has not finalized a distance learning plan.

Fresno Unified teachers who spoke with The Bee on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation, said they are anxious and don’t think there’s enough time to prepare for another semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Superintendent Bob Nelson said distance learning would be different than it was in the spring during a July 17 news conference. However, the plans discussed by district officials have been short on details, teachers said.

The Fresno Teachers Association has suggested postponing the start of the school year, but district officials have not signaled a willingness to consider the idea, teachers said.

A first-grade teacher who spoke with The Bee said the Aug. 17 start date was “absolutely crazy.”

She doesn’t have a list of her students yet. She doesn’t know whether her students have access to WiFi.

“It’s getting down to where we feel like there is just not enough time to get a full-blown plan in motion.”

FTA President Manuel Bonilla told The Bee he understands the district does not want to delay the start date, “however that date alone shouldn’t determine the start date.”

What should determine the start date, Bonilla said, is when parents, students, and educators are all prepared to go back to school.

“If students could miss school in the spring to where grades didn’t even count, then why can’t we push school back two weeks?” a middle school special education teacher questioned.

Fresno schools ‘hoping’ to release distance learning plan this week

Kim Mecum, Fresno Unified’s chief academic advisor, said the district is working on finalizing an online learning plan and is “hoping” it will be released early this week. She couldn’t provide much detail on what class will look like because the district is still negotiating with labor groups, including the Fresno teachers union.

“We all want to do this really well and not rush it, and we want high-quality instruction and support for all kids,” Mecum said. “We need to activate our families in a way we really never had in education at this scale. All of that planning and thinking at the school level is absolutely critical.”

Mecum said teachers, principals, and administrators all have to be part of the planning. Fresno Unified sent out surveys to teachers. However, one teacher told The Bee that wasn’t enough.

Under state requirements, Mecum said, kindergartners have to receive 180 minutes of instruction a day. First, second and third graders will receive 230 minutes, and fourth through twelfth graders need to be in class 240 minutes a day.

“That’s different than what happened in the spring,” she said. “The state has given a minimum expectation around daily instructional minutes.”

Students will have access to digital and hard copies of the curriculum, Mecum said.

Starting March 13, when schools closed to help slow the coronavirus pandemic’s spread, most teachers only connected with students weekly.

The district “had four months to play with scenarios,” the middle school teacher said. “I would think they would have something to tell teachers and on their own, not just because the teachers union is pushing.”

Teachers go back to work on Aug. 12, just a few days before students start. Mecum said she understands why teachers are worried they won’t have time to prepare.

“That’s part of what we’re talking about right now,” Mecum said. “We want nothing more than that, too. For teachers to feel confident and competent and to really feel they got their feet under them.”

‘Digital divide’ questions linger as school year approaches

It took the district most of the spring to issue laptops, tablets, and hot spots to students, Mecum said. Fresno Unified, the third-largest district in the state, has about 74,000 students, and many didn’t have access to the tools they needed to learn from home.

The district has created technology support teams to help families. However, there were still many issues with tablets. About a third of the first-grade teacher’s students couldn’t access the content because their tablets weren’t working or wouldn’t upload content, she said.

“They’re not very good and break easily,” she said.

Parents and students can call the Family Technology Support Center at 559-457-3939 during business hours to get help. People will be responding quickly to make sure every student has access to a working device and internet, Mecum said.

“The digital divide, it’s not a new thing, but it really put a spotlight on our kids and families that just don’t have access to WiFi,” Mecum said. “That’s a big deal, kids having the right tools to learn.”

The middle school teacher just wrapped up teaching summer school, she said. Typically, she would take a vacation, but she’s been working to prepare for the next school year. There are still so many unanswered questions, she said, but she’s doing what she can.

Special education teachers need to find a way to keep up with their students’ Individualized Education Program, or IEPs, she said. That requires having teacher meetings and assessing students, which is difficult to do over a computer screen, she said.

“I’m not saying it can’t be done,” the middle school teacher said. “I’m saying it takes time to figure that out, teachers are willing to do that, we’re just saying we need time.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 4:00 AM.