The city of San Francisco, California, asked a judge Thursday (Feb. 11) to order that schools immediately reopen face-to-face instruction, saying the continued closure violates children’s constitutional rights and has created a mental health crisis that has led to a dramatic increase in student suicides.
It has been nearly a year since San Francisco’s public schools stopped face-to-face instruction, and despite being allowed to resume such classes as of fall 2020, officials say those in the Education field lack a viable plan for reopening.
School closures take a huge psychological toll on students
In an emergency motion filed, San Francisco Attorney Dennis Herrera said the continued closure of the school “catalyzes a mental health crisis for school-age children.
Herrera quoted Jeanne Noble, director of the UCSF emergency department’s response to the Chinese Communist virus (Wuhan pneumonia).
In the attached statement, doctors testified to a significant increase in hospitalizations of children of all ages who are experiencing anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
The motion states that UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital has seen a 66 percent increase in emergency room admissions of suicidal children; a doubling of hospitalizations of adolescents for eating disorders; and a 75 percent increase in adolescents seeking mental health services in the face of school closures. 75%, who required immediate hospitalization.
Parents submitted documentation of the harm caused by the shift to distance learning. Allison Arieff said she recently found her 15-year-old daughter curled up at her laptop at 11 a.m., crying. Her daughter began crying frequently during the day and “lost faith not only in [the school district] but in the world”; Lindsay Sink says her 7-year-old son has regressed since learning via video and has had “uncontrollable meltdowns “It’s not uncommon; Glen Edwards said he sees “anxiety, distress, anger, depression and a loss of love for learning” in his 8- and 9-year-old sons.
Herrera asked the judge to force public schools to reinstate face-to-face classes, arguing that failure to do so would cause significant harm to students and families.
Herrera: Distance learning and face-to-face instruction are incomparable
“Distance learning is not the same thing at all as school,” Herrera said in a statement, “and we know that teachers do brave work every day trying to keep kids engaged and learning. So do overburdened parents. Even with these tremendous efforts, nearly a year of isolation from classmates, friends and teachers has taken a terrible toll on these children. This has to stop. It’s Time to get back in the classroom.”
The motion comes after the city of San Francisco sued the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District on Feb. 3 for failing to submit a state plan requiring “face-to-face instruction whenever possible. “and asked the court to issue an emergency order compelling the district to develop a school reopening plan.
Private and parochial schools have been open for weeks or months. Public education officials had planned to resume face-to-face classes in March or April.
The San Francisco school district said Feb. 7 that it reached a tentative agreement with the union on a reopening plan. The proposed plan will go to the Board of Education for approval Feb. 16.
In response to Herrera’s new emergency motion Thursday, a district spokesman told the media, “We fully agree that face-to-face would better serve students. But this is a frivolous lawsuit that is taking resources away from the reopening process. We have called on the city to provide vaccines and support supervised testing of staff and students. These calls have gone unanswered, but (these requests) are exactly what we need to move the process forward.”
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