How Sacramento families are trying to adapt to inconsistent school schedules

More than 42,000 students in the Sacramento City Unified School District began their first full day of instruction on Tuesday, but some families began the morning confused with which schedule to follow.

A schedule released by district officials began as early as 8 a.m., but a schedule from the teachers union began as late as 10 a.m. for some schools.

The district delivered a cease and desist letter to the Sacramento City Teachers Association over the weekend calling on the union to use the district’s distance learning schedule. But some teachers moved forward with schedules they collectively created and are different than the district’s plan.

While the district and teachers union entered state mediation last week, the district adopted a distance learning plan Saturday after starting the school year two days before without one. The announcement included a list of start times for each school and all grade levels.

Janae Bryant received an email from the principal at John F. Kennedy High: Classes would start at 8:20 a.m. Bryant followed up with a phone conversation, and was told to have her daughter log in at that time. But Bryant’s daughter, an 11th grader, received a message from her teacher stating class would start at 10 a.m. She logged in at 8:20 just to be safe.

“I wanted to cover my bases,” Bryant said. “If the district gives me a schedule I’m going to at least try to follow it. I don’t know if teachers have the authority to change it despite their good intentions.”

Bryant’s daughter logged back in again at 10 a.m. She likes the late start time for high school students, but Bryant isn’t so sure.

“A 10 o’clock start time could make the transition more difficult when they go back to school since I imagine they would go back to an 8:20 start time,” she said.

Kennedy teacher Damian Harmony said he favors the 10 a.m. start that the union voted on because of what teachers learned about students and their families in the spring.

“There are lots of families with siblings at multiple levels, and many parents are essential workers,” he said. “As such, the older siblings – my students – ended up needing to forgo their duties and obligations to my class, and keep their younger siblings and families afloat during the pandemic.”

Sacramento mother Gwynnae Byrd has two 11th graders — a daughter at C.K. McClatchy High and a son at John F. Kennedy High. Her daughter began classes at 8:20 a.m., and her son began at 10 a.m. The different start times meant that Byrd’s son ended his classes later in the day.

“I don’t think it’s my place or the teacher’s place to decide which schedule is better,” she said. “The fact that people couldn’t have a reliable schedule is totally unacceptable. It’s inconveniencing for my family. I really feel for the students who don’t have the support or parents who don’t have the time and flexibility that I do.”

Not all families reported confusion on Tuesday morning. Many parents said their teachers were online at the designated start time that principals and Sacramento City Unified implemented over the weekend. Teachers at several schools, including Pheobe Hearst Elementary, Kit Carson International Academy, Sam Brannan Middle School and Sutter Middle School followed the district’s implemented schedule.

District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar emailed parents saying he recognized that there has been confusion.

“Despite any other communications you might have received, we expect our staff to follow the school schedules linked at learn.scusd.edu,” read an email from Aguilar. “We must provide our community with consistency and uniformity and it is my responsibility as superintendent to create such consistency and uniformity. This is especially true because our district serves a student population that has long been underserved and has high needs.”

Some charter schools in the district, including Sacramento New Technology High School, had their own schedules when they started classes weeks ago. Students begin at 8:10 a.m.

Michelle Cromeenes has twins in 12th grade at the school and said classes have been smooth so far.

This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 4:05 PM with the headline "How Sacramento families are trying to adapt to inconsistent school schedules."