The meeting is getting started! Supervisor Haney introduced the items, and now Supervisor Ronen is giving an update. #BoardWatch
Ronen: have secured $1M for testing of staff and students. All staff will be tested prior to starting and at 2 month intervals. Any student with symptoms will be tested. All free. This is current plan, personally think it should be "more proactive and intensive' @HillaryRonen
Ronen: good news on hub size. State issued guidance that creates a 14 child limit (before was 20 and there were some concerns). This means DCYF needs to find more locations to meet 6000 child goal. #BoardWatch @HillaryRonen
Ronen: still in conversation with SFUSD about serving students with disabilities. There is active work to make sure these students receive the services they need to engage in distance learning. #BoardWatch @HillaryRonen
Ronen: survey is still in the works-need to figure out how to tailor to priority populations, $4M secured through budget process will be used to give additional pay to the workers in these hubs. #BoardWatch @HillaryRonen
Ronen: working to change the messaging from the city to parents who are engaging in parent-led hubs. To basically prohibit is sending a confusing message that needs to be corrected. In the process of changing the guidance. #BoardWatch @HillaryRonen
Supervisor Haney: mentions how hard Supervisor Ronen has been working on this. Working on Budget until 2AM yesterday! Now onto presentation from CCSF - Kristin Charles Assistant Vice-Chancellor #BoardWatch
CCSF is starting with all in person instruction through remote distance learning and making plans to return to in person on campus. #BoardWatch 
Asynchronous instruction and flexibility is really important because many students are sharing devices or have poor access to wifi. Have virtual support service, counselling, financial aid, and emergency cash grants.
Re first week of school at CCSF: students adapting, have been some technical challenges but have a team that has been addressing them as they arrive. This is another reason that having both synchronous and asynchronous is important #BoardWatch
Trustee Randolf: this almost feels like a lost year. Having a sense of community and in-person support is incredibly important. Remember my first semester, almost dropped out because it was so overwhelming, worried that the peer and in-person support is missing. @adrandolph
Randolf: this type of community hub support is also needed by 1st and 2nd year City College students. Need to think about how we can better support students. This will impact students for the "next decade-plus" @adrandolph #BoardWatch
Randolf: collaborative programs with SFUSD that allow students to get college credit are all impacted by this. Have we moved further with community hubs potentially at CCSF location? #BoardWatch
Commissioner Moliga: learning loss is a public health issue. Thinks there should a collaboration to form a task to identify impacts and what we can do. How do we put eyes on all these folks (kids and young adults)? This is a place for DPH, how do they partner? @FaauugaMoliga
Moliga: some successes, some kids are more comfortable in virtual learning, like those who have been bullied. Trustee Williams: need to collaborate to make experience for students as good as possible #BoardWatch
AVC Charles from CCSF: SFUSD students are our students, parents are our parents. There are many intersections. One thing we are working on through our "RISE" initiative is to create student success teams. Programs are in academic/career communities #BoardWatch
Randolf: question for DPH - did department look at state's recommendation for colleges and going back to campus. What are DPH recommendations? A: released guidance last Friday for Higher Ed and adult ed programs. #BoardWatch
Here it is! sfdph.org/dph/alerts/cov…
SFUSD's Chief Lau-Smith is presenting now. Similar to the presentation at BOE on Tuesday #BoardWatch
SFUSD expressed support for hubs, but not providing space at this time. #BoardWatch
(sorry, got a call and missed a couple of minutes) Now question from Ronen about engagement levels the first two weeks. Lau-Smith: tracking attendance in real time, but don't have data yet on engagement. #BoardWatch
Ronen: the tech support line is amazing. Lau-Smith: the resource link has been a bright spot, got private funding and some city funding allocated too. Have bilingual staff and working to have on-demand in language support for many languages #BoardWatch
Susan Soloman president of UESF: appreciates including union in the discussion about hubs. We know what an enormous challenge this is for children, families and educators. Hear about challenges for students and educators are exhausted. #BoardWatch @UESF_Pres
Soloman: at this point, about 700 members have requested access to school sites to work from. Will start next week at a total of 4 schools. Not necessarily their own school. Will be starting negotiations about Hybrid Learning soon. #BoardWatch
Soloman: don't want this to be perceived as teachers taking up space where students could be placed. There are many sites not being used. Also, I heard engagement was around 75% of families. Better than spring but need to reach those 25%. #BoardWatch
Soloman: recognize that there are teachers with childcare issues too. It is important to have everyone at the table because of the potential implications for public education. Respect CBO and city staff, but also know that there are forces that would like to dismantle public ed
Soloman: what we are putting in place need to be clear it is an emergency situation, not replacing teachers. Not paranoia at this point. Already seeing privatizers trying to "make a buck" off of public education #BoardWatch
Sup Haney - appreciates the comments. will follow up with DCYF.
Sup Haney - lots of questions right now about outdoor learning, parents are organizing around this. Chief Lau-Smith - currently focusing on hybrid learning but understand the need to focus on outdoor learning.
SFUSD should have more information about outdoor ed in two weeks.
DCYF Director Su is presenting now. Quick overview regarding Community Hubs. Designed to create structure and stability for students right now in neighborhood-based centers - NOT a shadow school!
Key to Community Hubs will be small, safe cohorts staffed by youth development staff. Think of them as summer camps.
Community Hubs are designed with equity in mind - for low-income students, residents of HOPE SF, public housing, SROs, homeless & foster youth. Distance learning was hard - and EXTRA hard for students in named groups.
Covid slide is becoming an avalanche. Students could lose up to 50% of their learning in math.
Outreach to eligible families will be conducted by CBOs with deep connections to families as well as government organizations like Hope SF. 8/24 invite-only application was released. as of today, 26 applications have been submitted.
Majority of current applicants are African American families; diverse breakdown of grade levels; most are from Bayview or Vis Valley. 1/3 in public housing. many homeless. O ESL families have applied.
66 sites across the City will open in September for 2,000 students. ID'd over 100 sites total so far. Actively working with City College to activate sites in phase 2
To the public who want to help: if you can, please make a donation to Give2SF.org to support the community hubs!
Commissioner Moliga - please share more specifics about how outreach is being conducted to public housing and SRO families? Director Su - relying on CBOs for outreach as well as Hope SF initiative. Supervisor Ronen - are you working with SRO collaborative? Answer - yes!
Ronen - of the 2,700 people who applied through online form, how many would have been eligible? answer: looked at the names and matched with CBOs and then followed-up with SFUSD about eligibility.
Director Su. very big need. 24,000 students in SFUSD qualify for free and reduced lunch + teachers requesting care so they can teach. unfortunately can only serve 6,000.
SFUSD believes there will be a strong need - but not sure about surveying families b/c they have inundated families with surveys. therefore hoping that now that applications are open, this will drive enrollment.
Ronen - as an SFUSD parent, appreciate SFUSD perspective. however, wants the opportunity to be available to ALL families who have need and want the support. so information on demand needs to continue to be gathered even when spaces are full.
DCYF - could leave inquiry form on website but it is passive and does not get to families who are eligible. Ronen - is outreach plan based on population or based on available spots?
DCYF - more population-focused, eligible students could be placed anywhere. outreach and placement looks different based on CBO and community.
Ronen - still trying to focus on demand, SFUSD/teachers really know best. is there a commitment from SFUSD/teachers to provide referrals.
response from UESF - thank you for having me here but to clarify, there is not really a stronger relationship with UESF on this effort.
Ronen to UESF - do you have thoughts about how we can put a process in place for educators to weigh in on which students would be appropriate for the hub?
From UESF - next steps would be for SFUSD to talk to teachers about this. unclear about relationship of teachers with DCYF.
oh no! there was more substance to this conversation - but I was interrupted by my kid! sorry.
Supervisor Ronen - very concerned about federal government not providing food for the Hubs - would like to alert the public and our representatives at the federal level.
Director Su - to be clear this is impacting both DCYF and SFUSD in a very big way. Until now, during the pandemic, there was a waiver so the City & District could provide food to any hungry child. Now - NO WAIVER!
DCYF - since they will not turn away children, they are looking at a big funding gap since the waiver has sunsetted. SFUSD - now they can only feed students in the district and they need a bar code to show they are qualified. also they now need to work with the State's guidelines
SFUSD - definitely needs the support of supervisors for federal waiver and state guidelines. will follow up offline with Supervisor Haney & Ronen.
SFUSD - they have also lost eligibility for some schools that were able to offer lunch for all students. now individual students will need to apply for eligibility. Fear tactic from the fed govt; public charge rule is problematic and scares families, even tho they are eligible
Ronen - this is OUTRAGEOUS. Thank you for your work trying to provide for the nutritional needs of students. Trump admin continues to be cruel.
Comm Moliga - we need to clap back on this cruel situation.
Continued conversation with DCYF - Comm Moliga asking about outreach to homeless & LGBTQQ families. DCYF answer - conducting outreach in all shelters. will gather more specifics about which CBOs are partners in LGBTQQ pop.
Haney - is there direct outreach to families picking up food about Community Hubs? What about during SFUSD wellness checks? Also, any concern/thoughts about number of applications?
DCYF - no concern about number of applicants to date. CBOs just started working on this to only 1,100 families right now. Tracking requests from social workers, principals, etc. and sending applications.
Starting presentation from Rec & Park!
First time Park & Rec has presented to this committee! Would like to start by presenting about work so far during COVID. Partnership with DCYF has been critical - grateful for the way that the two departments have worked together!
Next up: Rec and Park director Ginsburg says they have been working hand in hand with DCYF. This is a benefit/silver lining in all of this that will benefit our communities. #BoardWatch
Parks have become critical during pandemic - a place for ppl to invest in physical & mental health. now 6 months into pandemic - parks have NEVER closed. staff has been supporting children every day.
important to note, in this pod construct - children have been able to have access to amenities not open to adults.
Ginsburg: in this pod construct kids can use some rec and park amenities, even though not open to the public #BoardWatch
park & rec has helped in other ways - slow streets, distancing circles, COVID testing sites.
Ginsburg: Rec and Park sites have been used for food pantries and testing. Also used for emergency child and youth care #BoardWatch
Ginsburg: For fall, offering a hybrid of community hub sites and continuation of community and youth care sites. Some overlap between the populations, but some in ECYC wouldn't be eligible for the Community Hubs. ECYC starts Monday #BoardWatch
Ginsburg: Rec and Park staffing their own community hub sites. Have 3 cohorts of students deaf and hard of hearing and other disabilities #BoardWatch
Here is a list of all the CBOs working to run the hubs #BoardWatch Ginsburg is also talking about outdoor education options. Have a partnership "youth stewardship program" with SFUSD, pre covid served 2500 students.
Ginsburg: also have the "greenagers" program. Over the last 8 years have supported 8K hours of service. Program is being continued virtually, but hope to expand on-site with evolving guidance from DPH. #BoardWatch
Ginsburg: leaning into idea of outdoor education. Or a hybrid of indoor/outdoor place-based living. One of 8 pilot cities standing up an intersectional collaborative between city, sfusd and non-profits. Engaged 8K children, hosted 300 pre-schools and opened 3 major play spaces.
Ginsburg: working to see how these efforts can connect to hubs to provide outdoor learning. Most spaces programmed but opening what is available to other providers. Have received over 12K inquiries about using park spaces. #BoardWatch
Chair Haney: Question about reopening playgrounds. What are you hearing? Please give an update. Ginsburg: public health experts are allowing children in our camps to access play structures, but not yet open to the public. #BoardWatch @MattHaneySF @philginsburgsf
Ginsburg: Public health understands the importance of opening these. It is an equity issue. Families with resources have been able to figure out other options. The rationale is that Covid-19 is impacting some neighborhoods more and there is concern about community spread.
Ginsburg: ideas about testing, or opening playgrounds on certain days. Understanding now is that it is less about touching equipment, more about making sure kids are wearing masks. All officials increasingly aware of the covid related impacts on our children. #BoardWatch
Ginsburg: want to provide more opportunities for children to live "healthy, normal lives." Playgrounds are some of the most equitable resources we have. All of us live within 10-minute walk of a park. We are trying. @philginsburgsf #BoardWatch
Trustee Randolph: Didn't mention, but you also provide internet access to some of our students who don't have it, or maybe live in their cars. Some parks give this access and students use it. #BoardWatch @adrandolph
Director Ginsburg: since we have started working on emergency child and youth care, we have invested in upgrading wifi and bandwidth in clubhouses and rec centers #BoardWatch @philginsburgsf
Ginsburg: a little bit of a mixed bag. Want kids to put down phones and connect with nature, but also need the tech now more than ever. Mentions project at Indian Basin - equitable development planning concept #BoardWatch
Trustee Selby: one concern is that now that GGPark is closed to traffic, visitors are mostly White and Asian families. #BoardWatch
Director Ginsburg: pre-covid had shuttles from rec center to GGPark to address this issue. Also the new soccer fields has brought a more diverse community. In process of renovating tennis center with dedicated space for learning center (TLC) -is partnership with SFUSD.
Trustee Selby mentions data about high levels of anxiety among SF population (more than 40%). Ginsburg says investments in parks will make SF healthier mentally and physically. #BoardWatch
Chair Haney: can you clarify who is eligible for emergency childcare? Are our educators eligible? Who specifically? A: right now, criteria is front-line health care workers and activated disaster service workers #BoardWatch
Ginsburg: understand that teachers need childcare too. Other models have sprung up, we are not the only model. Have 40-50 slots left right now. Happy to have a conversation if there are available slots. #BoardWatch
Public comment time: there are 30 callers -- or maybe 2 callers? #BoardWatch
Comment: there is urgency around outdoor education/ putting school outside. Distance learning was effectively disaster learning in the spring. Had to stop working to teach my daughter. #BoardWatch
Comment cont.: kids this age are not meant to be in front of screen all day. Have even had to get our daughter special glasses. School outside is a feasible and appropriate thing to do. #BoardWatch
Comment: Agree with Supervisor Ronen that testing every 2 months is not enough, want to make sure CBO staff has health insurance and sick days. Safety is highest priority for families. Disappointed that DPH is under pressure to declare home pods are safe. #BoardWatch
Comment cont: need full restoration of community food distribution sites. Not everyone is in SFUSD schools and still need food. #BoardWatch
Public comment now closed. Next meeting will have to be moved. Will find a new time. Meeting is over #BoardWatch
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