S.F. school board approves plan with labor unions to reopen classrooms

Any return to in-person instruction — which is not a certainty — is likely at least two months off.

The district and board have faced increased pressure from parents and city officials to reopen schools — including a lawsuit and possible recall — and continue to face several hurdles before returning students to the classroom. They’re now struggling to reach an agreement with teachers union officials, who have expressed both concern over learning loss as well as possible outbreaks among staff and in the community when students return.

A key component of the agreement approved Tuesday allows a return to classrooms once the city reaches the red tier, the second most restrictive level of California’s reopening blueprint, if coronavirus vaccinations are made available to on-site school staff. San Francisco is expected to reach the red tier within the next week.

If the city progresses to the orange tier, a less restrictive category with “moderate” virus spread, teachers and other staff would return without demanding vaccinations.

The question now is what the school day will look like when schools reopen. The daily schedule for students and teachers is still pending, requiring an agreement between the district and teachers union. While bargaining continues over those issues, labor leaders and district officials expressed frustration at the ongoing talks over disagreements on how often students would be in classrooms.

District officials touted a proposal at a Tuesday news conference — before the board meeting — for the youngest students.

Superintendent Vince Matthews detailed the district’s reopening proposal for children in transitional kindergarten through second grade, including students with disabilities, highlighting that the district is fighting for longer hours and days than the teachers’ union.

The district wants five hours a day, five days a week at schools with low demand for a return to in-person learning, and for pre-K and special education students. In those cases, children would be in school for 25 hours a week.

The superintendent said the union’s proposal would provide just 12 hours of in-person instruction at those schools, with three hours a day for four days each week, and one day of distance learning.

Under the union’s plan, “students and families would also spend much of the day transitioning” from home to school and back, Matthews said.

“We don’t want to just offer half days,” he added. “We want to offer consistency.”

In response, the United…