Getting kids to log onto class is Fresno parents’ first assignment of the new school year 

A school year like no other gets under way in the Fresno and Clovis unified districts Monday, one sure to put students, teachers and administrators to an extreme test.

Staff in both districts have made extensive plans for how distance learning will be conducted. Students needing the computer technology to log in to lessons have gotten the necessary devices, the districts say.

The good news is that the districts had the summer to develop their strategies, unlike the spring, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and they had to react on the fly.

The not-so-good news, at least in Fresno’s case, is that the poverty level of its families, and high rate of chronic absenteeism, continue to pose major difficulties in trying to properly educate all of its expected 70,600 students.

The big unknown is whether students will actually log on for school. Fresno Unified tracked how many students took part in online classes last May, which is when district computers had finally reached all students. After the first week, 43 percent of students were taking part in online instruction, meaning logging onto at least one session that week. Participation then went down to 27 and 22 percent in the next two weeks. By the end of the academic year, only 19 percent logged on.

For effective distance learning to occur this fall, it will be imperative for parents to encourage, cajole, even push their kids to log on. And local districts must thoroughly follow-up with students who are not joining classes and get those children to participate.

Sense of normalcy

While the learning process will be much different than regular school, both Fresno and Clovis districts have plans to emphasize students being in daily contact with their teachers.

In both districts, the school day will begin online at 9 a.m. and teachers will lead live instruction. Attendance will be taken. Hours will be set aside for teachers to help individual students.

And, importantly, grading will be done. Last spring, when the online programming was hustled up, grading was ended for a host of reasons, not the least of which was concern that not all children had good internet access.

Truancy will be monitored in both districts as well. Truancy occurs when a student has an unexcused absence of 30 minutes or more on three separate days.

Major challenges in Fresno

Students from low-income families of color face greater challenges to their learning because of the pressures that poverty creates: food insecurity, unsteady job prospects for parents, poorer health.

A Los Angeles Times survey of districts in Southern California found major disparities with online learning when the pandemic shut down in-person school last spring. Students in wealthier communities were able to adjust more quickly to the online environment, and they stayed involved in their learning. Those in poorer cities were more apt to disengage or never get involved with the instruction. Low-income parents often had multiple jobs, and could not help their children with homework, the survey found.

More than a third of Fresno Unified students come from families in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. Census data reported in 2018 showed that about 27,000 of the 5-to-17-year-olds living within the district’s borders come from families with incomes of less than $25,000 per year for a family of four.

California Department of Education data show that nearly 90 percent of students at the district are eligible for free or reduced price meals, which the district offers to all students.

Additionally, in the 2018-19 school year, 17 percent of Fresno Unified students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 10 percent or more of the school days. The state average was 12 percent.

Technology assist

Fresno Unified has given out 60,000 tablets, laptops and internet hot spots to students to bridge the “digital divide” that would limit online learning.

Similarly, Clovis Unified has more than 33,000 devices available for distribution to its enrollment of about 40,000. Clovis also has 3,500 internet hot spots to help families get online.

The push of the power button on thousands of computers will usher in the new school year Monday. Until the pandemic lets up and in-person schooling can once again occur, here’s hoping valuable learning takes place and young people grow in the process.

And, more than most any other time in recent memory, area employers will play a major role in supporting local education. How? By allowing workers who are parents the necessary flexibility to check in with teachers during the day as needed.

This fall, it really will take the big village of the Fresno-Clovis metro area to help raise the children going back to school while in their homes.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 10:18 AM.