Spring break aside, coronavirus closure won’t mean learning stops for Stanislaus kids
The message from the state is clear, Stanislaus County educators heard Tuesday and Wednesday: Though schools may be closed, education will go on.
The state superintendent of instruction’s directive is that “school is not out, and we will continue to provide services — they’ll just look different,” said Sarah Grantano, the county Office of Education’s assistant superintendent in charge of special education and health services.
Exactly what shape instruction takes will be up to individual school districts, she said, but all must look at “equity, access and innovation” to provide education to all students.
As it stands right now, the duration of what’s called distance learning varies greatly among districts within the county. Modesto City Schools, for instance, has school closures planned only through April 5, while Turlock Unified is out through April 19. Closures, which all start Thursday, are scheduled to include each district’s spring break.
The distance learning page on the MCS website refers to the closure through April 5 as Phase I and notes that district staff “will also continue to work on developing additional materials for future use, if the school closure period is extended beyond the April 5 date.”
This first phase of home learning includes only review of what Modesto students already have been taught. For all grade levels, transitional kindergarten through high school, student work will not be collected, graded or recorded by teachers, according to the district. Neither will students be tested on the material upon their return to school.
Educational resources will be available by grade level on the district website for families with Internet access. Those without it, or who prefer paper, can pick up packets at school meal pickup locations or at the district office, 426 Locust St., weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
See Modesto City Schools meal pickup schedule
The latest update on the Turlock Unified website lays out “optional learning opportunities” for students through April 9. It notes that the plans “allow learning to continue equitably without dependence on Internet access for each of our grade spans.”
Equity between what is offered to general ed and special ed students has been a key concern of educators as they anticipated schools needing to shut down because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Stanislaus Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall said counties needed to hear from the California Department of Education whether there would be any release from the mandates of Free Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE.
FAPE for Students With Disabilities falls under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, according to the U.S. Department of Education. According to it website, Section 504 of the act protects the rights of people with disabilities who are in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, including federal funds. It says: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
See Turlock Unified’s school shutdown meal information
In this “unprecedented time” for schools, Grantano said, FAPE mandates pose a special challenge. As much as possible, districts want to provide equal access to learning for all children during the closure, she said. For instance, if learning packets are what go out to general ed students, then districts’ braille transcribers will ensure that students with vision impairment get the same materials.
It’s more complicated, she said, when it comes to special instruction that occurs in classes for children who are emotionally disturbed, have autism, or are deaf or hard of hearing. The support that itinerant staff provide to children in areas such as speech and adaptive physical education are nearly impossible to provide at home, she said.
Kristin Wright, director of the Special Education Division for the state, told county educators that all federal requirements for students with disabilities remain in effect, Grantano said. “So we need to provide access like any other student has to distance learning in any way we can,” she said.
To do that, staff is doing things like developing websites families can access and making sure any devices special ed students use at school go home with them.
See the state Department of Education’s COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools
In general, the California Department of Education said in its COVID-19 Guidance for K-12 Schools issued Tuesday that districts “should immediately begin developing a plan for distance learning for their students and providing training and professional development for their teachers.”
Grantano said that work is under way and the state has not issued any deadline for required plans.
Right now, districts are telling teachers to make sure they have contact information for all students and have ensured curriculum access, she said.
