By: Genelle Gogue
Due to COVID-19, schools all over the world were forced to shut down and resort to distance learning online instead. MUSD’s last day before closure was Mar. 13, however distance learning went into effect Mar. 19. Students were originally meant to come back to school on Apr 3, but Governor Gavin Newsom has since announced that all schools in California will remain shut down the rest of the school year and continue with distance learning.
On Mar. 11, a survey was sent around asking students about their online and internet access at home. The survey was sent out during the last week that students were at school and it had to be completed by Friday, even though we got the email on Wednesday. It was not planned out very well and should have been given out sooner. Regardless of COVID-19, the school should have this information for future instances just in case a shutdown needs to happen right away. Even if they don’t have the information, the intensity of the outbreak had already been known for weeks, meaning the survey still should have been given out a long time ago.
Bay Area residents then received a“shelter-in-place” warning the week of Mar. 16, which meant residents needed to stay home unless going out for essentials. However, Chromebook pickup for students with no access to a computer was set from Mar. 17 to Mar. 19. Even though picking up a chromebook falls under essential travel, students and families shouldn’t have needed to go out after the shelter-in-place order started. Many students live with older relatives and going out at all can be a hazard for them and add to the growing epidemic. MUSD did take necessary precautions, but chromebooks should have been passed out before schools shut down.
MUSD also did not talk about how students could obtain food until after the school shut down as well. Many students in the district rely on school food as their only meals during the day. The email came out the day after the news was released about shutting the schools down, however they now only serve food at three locations. They currently distribute food at MHS, the MUSD Board Room, and Spangler Elementary. Though this isn’t as convenient as it was before when all schools distributed meals, the three locations are all spread out fairly evenly.
As for MHS specifically, students including me are still confused about distance learning. We were told that we were going to follow all of our classes like a regular schedule, however not all teachers hold online meetings and when some do, it’s not always at their class time. It gets confusing when we are told one thing and it isn’t followed. Students are also unsure about being marked as “engaged” or “not engages”. Since we need to make at least one connection with our teachers in a week, we do not know if that goes as far as just emailing them or turning in actual assignments. We don’t know what happens if we are marked as disengaged, if it is similar to a cut or something different. Students don’t know if there is even a punishment. In the last count, roughly 200 students were not engaged with distance learning. We aren’t being told about what happens in these conditions. On Mar 25, Principal Francis Rojas sent out an email with “on-the-hour” scheduling and some expectations, but it contained more information about what teachers should be doing, not students. MHS should have sent out an email clarifying what distance learning exactly means and what the standards are for students.
MUSD has been handling some problems of the shutdown really well and others not so much. I think that they still should have prepared better nonetheless, as there were a lot of issues that could’ve been solved if the plans were more efficient. Schools could have shut down instantly over other reasons and we were simply not as prepared as we should have been. Hopefully this COVID shutdown will be a learning experience for the district.
