BHS on Zoom: A Update

Long after one's kids graduate from BHS it's easy to recall how central to the community it (and Mills) are, hence my interest in this crazy school year.  I noted the uncertainty that was being felt in town a month and a half ago here.  Now that sessions have started, there is some information available on what is being done in the way of tech access.  Across the nine schools in the District, more than half of 7,500 Chromebooks have been distributed and another 2,200 are on order.  1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots have been distributed and 90 outdoor access points will be installed--BHS and Mills are apparently deployed already.  800 Zoom accounts have been set up.

I've gotten the link to the SMUSHD Board's first meeting post-restart; it was recorded and is available on YouTube here.  You can see BHS Principal Paul Belzer give a five minute update starting at 2:15:30.  He noted excellent attendance at "Panther Prep" day where 1,100-1,200 Chromebooks were passed out.  The counselors at BHS helped 90 students sign up for community college courses (an accelerated study tactic mentioned in the comments on the July post linked above) and another 135 students signed up for about 500 independent study courses.  He notes the challenge will be "Zoom fatigue".  No surprise there and it will be interesting to see how kids, parents and teachers react over time as it gets tougher to focus day after day, week after week.

For reference, San Mateo County is at 7,535 total cases with 14% being age 19 and below.  Hopefully Zoom attendance data will be regularly released so everyone can gauge the effectiveness vs. the risk of reopening the physical classrooms.

Comments

[Board Meeting video removed from YouTube-KRN]

What happened to the May 2020 SMUHSD Board Meeting recording on Youtube?

Since the SIP, the SMUHSD has held ZOOM Board meeting, posting the video to YouTube.

These meetings contain significant ON THE RECORD comments by the SMUHSD Administration, Board Members, and the public. They can't take them back once they are on YouTube for everyone to see... or can they?

There have been a total of 13 meetings on Zoom but only eight are currently posted.

SMUHSD Board YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW_KpbKc1KYRPUzLZHSxf0A/featured

What happened to the three meetings in May that were previously posted?

These were the meetings where the debates regarding opening the school took place.

There are on the record statements that the Admin would like removed from the public record.

Who is in charge of the YouTube Channel for the district? Who can remove these public documents?

What other information has the Administration withheld or suppressed?

April 3-Missing
April 16-Posted
May 7 -Missing
May 21 -Missing
May 28 -Missing

[Joe]

You have to love technology--the ups and the downs:

UP

A local mom noted: the gaming headset with built-in microphone.

She said the device has been critical in allowing her daughters to sit next to one another at their home desks and communicate with their teachers and classmates on teleconferencing calls.

Plus the noise canceling technology limits the chance that they may get distracted — a notable feature when both parents are also on business calls and working remotely while the kids are in classes.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/families-bracing-for-unique-school-year-in-san-mateo-county/article_a9a9ef5e-e5b4-11ea-9025-8769385fc123.html

DOWN

From the WSJ:

Users of videoconferencing app Zoom reported problems with the service Monday morning, just as many students in the U.S. returned to school for virtual classes dependent on the technology.

Schools on the West Coast were affected but to a lesser extent because the outage occurred before classes started. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the country, said its Zoom access was largely restored before classes began at 9 a.m. local time. Santa Ana Unified School District received a handful of calls from parents about issues with Zoom, but the disruption was limited to those who tried to access the service through the website, not the app and high-school students who had classes starting before 9 a.m.

[Joe]

Here's some concerning data:

Early indications are that roughly 1,000 district students are failing and not engaged with their classes during the fall semester, said Friedman, who projected another 2,000 are likely also struggling — though perhaps not so severely.

In a district of approximately 9,000 students, Friedman questioned how to support that considerable segment, while also recognizing a majority of the students are either performing adequately or excelling during distance learning.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/san-mateo-county-high-schools-plan-reopening-when-allowed/article_a851350e-3c35-11eb-9dd7-d3a124e1e659.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1607785221&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

For the math-challenged, 3,000 out of 9,000 is one-third failing or struggling......

[Shoot the Messenger- Issues are known and buried #2]

Early indications... it's December and half the school year is over.

Do you really believe that the administration was not tracking these issues since the start of school?

The administrations has a personal interest in blocking information from the Board.

The San Francisco Unified School District has a public dashboard regarding progress to opening schools.

The "better" and "wealthier" district of the peninsula has nothing for the public to monitor.

https://www.sfusd.edu/services/health-wellness/covid-19-coronavirus-resources-families-students/person-learning-readiness-dashboard-phase-2a