Long Beach Unified School District, along with dozens of other districts across the state, had to overhaul its teaching strategy over a few weeks to be able to close schools and slow the spread of coronavirus.

“It’s like building a whole brand new school system,” said district Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, who spoke with the Long Beach Post and The562.org on Friday in a live Q&A chat.

The district is the largest employer in the city, with about 10,000 employees and more than 70,000 students. Administrators had to drastically change instruction “literally overnight” to allow students to learn from home and teachers effectively instruct students online. The schools closed March 16 and will be closed until the end of the school year, officials announced.

Steinhauser answered questions including how students will be graded and how teachers are working, but urged parents and teachers to not stress out about being “perfect” during this time of adjustment.

“Continue to do your best,” he said. “We are so many overachievers. Lower that down, do not stress out because I’m amazed by what people are doing and we will provide more support, but the most important thing is to take this opportunity and enjoy the time that we’ve all been given. Learning is about exploring … don’t worry that you don’t get everything done. This is gonna be OK, and you heard that from the superintendent, so it’s OK.”

See the full video here, or read the highlights below:

 

How will teachers and staff get paid?

Under the governor’s stay-at-home order, districts can still get funding if they continue to offer instruction and continue to pay employees. Full time and part time employees are still getting paid and some hourly employees are getting paid for a minimum set of hours, Steinhauser said. Custodians, food service workers and secretaries are still being paid, he said.

How can students can get food?

All children ages 1 through 18, even if they are not students, can pick up free meals from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on weekdays. Meals are grab-and-go style lunches, as well as a breakfast to eat for the morning. Meals are provided at these LBUSD schools:  Addams, Avalon, Birney, Bixby, Burbank, Chavez, Dooley, Emerson, Gant, Garfield, Gompers, Grant, Harte, Henry, Herrera, King, Lafayette, Lincoln, Lindbergh, Longfellow, MacArthur, Marshall, McKinley, Muir, Riley, Rogers, Roosevelt, Signal Hill, Smith, Stevenson, Twain, Washington, Whittier and Willard.

Parents can also pick up food for their kids or kids can grab food for the rest of their family, according to Steinhauser.

The food services department is also working with the city to feed first responders, Steinhauser said.

How can families get access to Chromebooks and internet? 

The school district had already distributed Chromebooks to about 20,000 students in December and then over the last few weeks have distributed an additional 10,000 Chromebooks, according to the superintendent.

If a student still needs a Chromebook, a parent must set up an appointment with their school to get one, Steinhauser said.

About 7% of students in the district do not have access to the internet at home or only have limited access. The district has bought 5,000 hotspots that can support 10 devices each. The schools will be working with the families who have told them they do not have access and deploy hotspots to them within the next week, he said.

Will the district extend the school year?

The state has not yet told districts to extend the school year into the summer, but Steinhauser said if the stay home order is lifted in June, the district is “looking at what kind of options that we can extend for the summer and looking at summer school differently.”

But, if the order is lifted, they will be looking at their options in fall. Steinhauser mentioned the district’s already robust Saturday and after-school programs might be an option for catching students up.

What will credit, assignments and grading look like? 

More details will be released next week, but when the schools closed, the district basically froze student grades, according to Steinhauser. Until April 20, student assignments are ungraded as the district is testing the system to ensure students and teachers can use it. The state board of education has given guidance to the districts Steinhauser said he is getting input from teachers and staff to set up guidelines for everyone.

“No kid is going to get harmed in this crisis,” Steinhauser said, but he reminded students that the time out of classrooms should not be treated like a vacation.

Some high schools are using a block schedule to have classes in two hour blocks and then a set time for office hours. Hundreds of teachers each day are attending online workshops to learn how to teach effectively online.

“None of us should expect that what we saw in our old classrooms is going to happen in our living rooms,” Steinhauser said. “It just can’t but what we have to do is we have to provide the best learning opportunities in those key areas.”

This will not delay senior college acceptance. Students who continue to pass their courses will be able to move on to the next grade. If the district moves to a pass/fail system, students who fail would have to make up credits in summer school, just like in normal circumstances he said. And no matter what, the district will be offering credit recovery this summer.

Steinhauser said the district is planning to provide “supplemental opportunities” in the summer and fall, including Saturday school, after-school tutorials or online programs to ensure kids have the opportunity to learn any missed content.

What about students who have Individualized Education Plans or are in special education? 

The district is looking at different options of how aides and teachers can still provide support for students with IEP’s. Steinhauser said the district is trying to handle parent concerns on an individual basis for now, but working on a larger program.

What about graduation ceremonies? 

Physical graduation ceremonies are canceled to slow the spread of the virus, a decision Steinhauser said was heart-wrenching.

“Our kids don’t deserve this, no one deserves this, but we have to keep our kids safe and our families safe,” he said.

The activities specialists, who plan the graduations, are reaching out to students for their input on how the district should conduct graduation while complying with social distancing. They expect to come back after spring break with a decision of whether the ceremonies will be held virtually or held later in the year (if it is safe) or a combination.

“We really want the student voices to be part of this because we want them to drive this recommendation,” Steinhauser said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the school locations that are offering free meals.