Fresno Unified staff urged students to keep studying through the end of the year, despite low motivation, connectivity issues and other life challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The school year officially ends June 4, but for some, it has already felt like a vacation, school officials acknowledged.

Superintendent Bob Nelson asked students to push through to the end of the year by completing their AP tests and improving their grades with supplemental work.

However, Nelson acknowledged during a live video chat on Friday, not every student had been contacted by their teachers, nearly two months since campuses closed.

During the session, a student asked what they should do if their teacher has not contacted them to offer them ways to study.

Nelson urged students to reach out to someone at their school to get contact started.

Fresno schools, citing inequities created by device and web access, have said students will receive the same grades they earned in the third quarter of the school year. Any work students do while campuses are closed will essentially be counted as extra credit and help them improve their grades.

The district took into consideration current policies from the California State University and University of California systems when it decided to use a pass/no pass system this year.

Students who get As, Bs and Cs will receive those letter grades that will count toward their grade-point average. Students who earn a D will receive a pass mark, while an F grade will receive a no-pass score. The pass/no-pass marks will not affect a student’s GPA.

Nelson on Friday also acknowledged students might be questioning why they should continue working if the homework is optional.

“The reality of that is learning has value in and of itself,” he said. “You can lose your job, you can lose your way of funding yourself, (but) the one thing nobody can ever take away from you is what you’ve gained through a development of your own intellect.”

FUSD Trustee Claudia Cazares said she’s heard about issues that students in Spanish-speaking families are having with online studying.

“They don’t have the ability for mom to help them out or reach out to their teachers,” she said.

Students in large families are also facing problems with having enough devices or Internet access. “Their bandwidth can only take so much, and so they can’t all be doing work at the same time.”

The more significant issue, at least for older students, is self-motivation.

FUSD senior and student trustee Josh Camarillo said creating a schedule could help his peers.

“It will allow you to be more productive,” he said. “TikTok will be there tomorrow, Netflix will be there tomorrow, YouTube will be there tomorrow. Go to bed at a reasonable time.”

He understands the loss of motivation, but he said everything students do now is setting themselves up for their future.

Advanced Placement testing begins Monday, and he will be taking three tests this year, he said.

“The way I look at it is, I’ve taken three AP courses for almost an entire year. So it would be kind of pointless to go through all of that rigor, all of that dedication and hard work towards these classes to not even take the final product.”

This year’s AP exams will be much different from years past, according to district AP manager Chantea McIntyre. They’ll be all online and open notes. Although testing is just days away, “It’s not too late for you to jump on board,” she said.

Students who did not get an email about testing can either contact their teacher or go to the College Board website and sign in for details.

But, district officials said, there is an upside to remote learning for many students. The district has worked hard to provide access, and most students have been in regular contact with teachers.

Nelson said the district has distributed over 53,000 devices to help connect students to the Internet, and nearly two months after schools went dark, they are still handing them out.

Teacher Carol Padilla said the flexibility of distance learning might actually be better for some of her senior students who enjoy studying late.

“I’m getting messages at 11, 12, maybe 2 o’clock in the morning,” she said. “I can get back to them and just support them.”

McIntyre said remote learning is similar to what students can expect in college.

“What a great bridge,” she said, “especially for our seniors but also for our freshmen, to really get a sense for what does it feel like to take a really rigorous course on their own pace. How do you advocate for yourself if you don’t understand a concept? How do you take a test remotely?

“What a great learning experience.”

This story has been corrected to reflect that students that earn a D grade will receive a pass mark.

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 May 8, 2020 at 4:50 PM.