EDUCATION
Christina Setzer , an early childhood education teacher , has a unique perspective on the state of education nearly two years into the pandemic : She ’ s an employee of the Sacramento City Unified School District , a mother of two students in the district and one who recently graduated , and she is a graduate of SCUSD ’ s independent study program , Capital City School .
“ My daughter ’ s not vaccinated yet and she ’ s 11 , and I was really , really hesitant to send her back ,” Setzer says of her youngest child . “ But at the same time , she ’ s been at her school since kindergarten . ... I was really disheartened that they weren ’ t going to have ( a distance ) option — her teacher was amazing last year .”
Most of California ’ s brick-and-mortar schools reopened for a partial year in spring 2021 , and the majority of parents — some eagerly and some with trepidation — sent their children back to schools with pandemic modifications including staggered start times and mask requirements . Still , not every parent has chosen to return their children to fulltime , on-site education for the current school year .
In an effort to reopen schools for children who thrived best with inperson instruction while addressing the needs of those parents who were not yet ready to send students back full time , the California Department of Education ’ s response has been to mandate that as public schools reopen , they must also offer either virtual independent study programs or a virtual learning curriculum . This bill , Assembly Bill 130 , signed on July 9 , 2021 , is an extensive education omnibus trailer bill that requires ( in part ) online learning to provide some amount of synchronous instruction during the week , varying by grade level .
An April 2021 Public Policy Institute of California survey showed that roughly 75 percent of parents were in favor of full or partial reopening of public schools , meaning many parents still felt schools should remain closed or continue online only . For some , that decision has been influenced by the inability to vaccinate children under 12 , while others realized their children have flourished in the online environment . Whatever parents ’
“ My goal was to create the best virtual programs in the region , and I feel like we actually met that goal .”
ROBERT KINDER Principal , Davis School for Independent Study
feelings on reopening models , polling indicated eight in 10 felt their students had fallen behind academically in the remote learning system .
Educators have long understood that there is no such thing as a one-size-fitsall education model . And though it ’ s not been without growing pains , the past year and a half has brought together parents , teachers and legislators to expand educational options .
Many charter schools already prepared
Though AB 130 specifically exempts public charter schools from independent study requirements , many local charters already offer robust at-home learning options , either through independent study or virtual learning programs . Both models incorporate regular check-ins with a dedicated teacher with live , synchronous interaction daily for younger children .
Natomas Charter School , for example , is separated into five academies , two of which offer primarily off-campus options : Pursuing Academic Choices Together Academy , a homeschool-based program for students in kindergarten through eighth grade ; and Virtual Learning Academy , where students in grades nine through 12 participate in a hybrid model where much of the work is done online , with some in-person workshops and the option to take community college courses in addition to required secondary courses . While those two programs ’ structures adapt well to current requirements , additional planning provided a smoother path .
“ Schools closed on March 12 — I ’ m pretty sure it was the day . About Feb . 25 we actually had an executive team meeting where we thought through what would we do if we got an order to close schools ,” says Joe Wood , executive director of Natomas Charter School . “ Of course , we naively thought it would be an order to close schools for two weeks , and it ended up being months .” That advance planning gave Wood and his team an opportunity to address potential issues that could have slowed down the transition to fullydistanced education .
Similarly , Gateway Community Charters in Sacramento County began offering a virtual academy for all grade levels at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year , spurred by the realization that many parents were seeking additional flexibility . It too offers some
62 comstocksmag . com | November 2021