Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

San Francisco Will Not Begin Reopening Schools in January, Faults Union Demands

The San Francisco Unified School District will not begin the phased reopening plan that was proposed last week.

According to a statement from SFUSD, the plan was put on hold due to “significant new requests” from the school unions that go beyond the guidance from the Department of Public Health.

“The District cannot meet all of the new requirements SFUSD’s labor unions have proposed, and there is not sufficient time to complete bargaining in order to reopen any school sites on Jan. 25.,” the statement said.

“Most significantly,” according to the statement, labor unions have requested that schools remain remote until San Francisco County has remained in the orange, or “moderate,”  tier for 14 consecutive days on the state’s color-coded system classifying tranmission risk.

In a statement, Mayor London Breed said: “It is infuriating that our schools are not going to reopen for in-person learning in January. I can’t imagine how hard this is for our families and for our young people who haven’t been in the classroom since March and are falling further behind every single day. We should not be creating a false choice between education and a safe return to classrooms. As a society, we have a responsibility to educate our children, and safety is embedded in that responsibility. We can do both. We must do both.”

Breed also encouraged parties to work through the holidays to resolve the impasse.

—Michelle Wiley

Copyright 2020 KQED