Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

7 hours ago

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

8 hours ago

Gold Price to Stay Above $3,000/Oz as Flight to Safety Endures

10 hours ago

S&P, Nasdaq at Record Highs as US-EU Trade Deal Sparks Optimism in Pivotal Week

10 hours ago

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

10 hours ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

1 day ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

2 days ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

3 days ago
Internet Problems Snag Start of New School Year in Fresno
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
August 18, 2020

Share

On the first day of the new school year for Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified students on Monday, school officials quickly learned just how tenuous the distance learning connection between students and teachers could be.

Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson

Fresno Unified School District website servers couldn’t handle the demand and had to be shut down temporarily so the district’s information technology workers could double the number of servers, superintendent Bob Nelson told GV Wire℠.

Central Unified School District, which started its new school year last week, reported Monday morning on Twitter that the internet and phone lines were down.

No Internet? No Attendance

Central Unified added that students would not be penalized for attendance and were expected to work on Tuesday’s classwork assignments.

Nelson said he’s glad Fresno Unified learned of the server load issues on Monday, two days before the scheduled start of online instruction.

“I will admit, I’m pretty afraid about what it might mean if we have rolling blackouts or pray that those are after 3:00 p.m.,” Nelson said about the potential for scheduled power outages across California because of this week’s extremely hot weather.

Nelson said Fresno Unified isn’t the only district that’s going to put a dent in the internet this week: “When the entire totality of Valley kids go online around 9:30 in the morning Wednesday, I think that’s going to be telling. You know, I’m thankful we had the soft start (Monday) so that we could kind of shore it up to the greatest degree we can.”

Meanwhile, students enrolled at Fresno County’s Career Technical Education Charter High School got a message advising that a nearby road construction project had cut the central Fresno school’s internet line, but it was expected to be repaired by Monday night.

Pandemic Keeps Schools Closed

Schools in Fresno County, and across California remain closed to in-person instruction because of high coronavirus infection rates. Under a state order, schools in counties that are on the state’s COVID-19 watchlist must stay closed until the county is off the list for 14 days straight.

Fresno Unified is using the first two days of the new school year for orientation, distribution of devices, and giving students the opportunity to become familiar with the platforms they’ll be using once instruction starts on Wednesday.

District spokeswoman Nikki Henry said Fresno Unified sent out an additional 11,000 devices by FedEx last week, and with the 60,000 devices already distributed last year, officials expect that most students already have or soon will have the device they need for distance learning.

Kids Still Need Immunizations

The number of students who still need to be immunized was about 2,000 on Monday. State law requires up-to-date inoculations before students can start the school year — even though schools won’t reopen for some time.

The district is sending out messages from Nelson and other leaders to urge parents to get their children immunized, and Fresno Unified staffers also are reaching out to families, Henry said.

Bell-Ringing Starts School Year at Clovis Unified

Clovis Unified is using the first four days of this week for students and their parents to come to schools on staggered schedules to sign out equipment, get technology assistance, and meet their teachers.

Portrait of Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O'Farrell
Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell

But the district held tight to some of its dearest traditions, such as the ringing of the school bell at Jefferson Elementary that marks the start of the new year, superintendent Eimear O’Farrell said. This year’s ringing was attended by only a handful of people but was shared online across the district.

O’Farrell said she maintained other traditions, such as in-person visits to schools with new principals. Before her arrival at the district’s newest school, Janet Young Elementary, O’Farrell and other top district leaders visited Clovis East High School. There, she observed as the football coach met with his players online to encourage them to keep up their grades and the choral teacher promised her online students that she wouldn’t “unmute” them individually when they’re singing.

The Duran family — mom Stephanie, second grader Ryan, kindergartner Tyson, and dad Jordan — were at Janet Young Elementary for the first day of school. (GV Wire/Jahz Tello)

The first day at a brand-new school like Young Elementary would normally be a time of fanfare and celebration for Clovis Unified, but Monday’s opening was fairly subdued, with an empty playground and nearly empty campus. The school had staggered the arrival times for students and their parents to come to their classrooms, pick up equipment, and take care of registration.

Second-grader Ryan Duran, 7, came to classroom 13 with his parents and younger brother Tyson for a quick meet-and greet with his teacher, Maral Derkalousdian. When it came time for Derkalousdian to snap a class photo, Ryan stayed on the hallway side of a table that blocked the entrance to his classroom and kept his face mask on.

Teacher Elizabeth Araim

Next door in classroom 14, second-grade teacher Elizabeth Araim had already seen five of her 24 students by mid-morning Monday. She comes to the school from Boris Elementary, which is where many of Young Elementary students also are transferring from, and said she expects to see many familiar faces — once students are able to return to school.

Not being able to easily greet her former students is one of the things she’s missing, as well as “the patter of feet in the hallway, and the laughter.”

 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Two Arrested in Dollar General Burglary in Fowler, Third Suspect at Large

DON'T MISS

New York City Mayor Says ‘Active Shooter’ Incident Taking Place in Manhattan

DON'T MISS

Shooting Outside Casino in Reno, Nevada, Leaves 3 Victims Dead, 2 Critically Wounded

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

DON'T MISS

Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Entry to US Over Travel Ban

DON'T MISS

Fresno Seals Deal with Police Union. No Deal Yet With Firefighters.

DON'T MISS

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

DON'T MISS

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

DON'T MISS

Naindeep Singh Joins Fresno City Council Race as Campaign Fundraising Totals Roll In

DON'T MISS

Fresno Home Suffers Major Damage in Saturday Night Fire, Family Cat Rescued

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

UP NEXT

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

UP NEXT

Gaza Running out of Specialized Food to Save Malnourished Children

UP NEXT

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

UP NEXT

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

UP NEXT

Video-Sharing App Vine Is Returning ‘in AI Form’, Musk Says

UP NEXT

CBS News Taps Tanya Simon as New Boss of ’60 Minutes’ After Trump Lawsuit

UP NEXT

Protesters in Tel Aviv Call for Israel to End Hunger and Gaza War

UP NEXT

Karbassi Fears Costco Could Move to Madera After Fresno Project Halted by Court

UP NEXT

Bryan Kohberger Sentenced to Life for Idaho Killings, Declines to Make Statement

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

2 hours ago

Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Entry to US Over Travel Ban

2 hours ago

Fresno Seals Deal with Police Union. No Deal Yet With Firefighters.

2 hours ago

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

2 hours ago

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

3 hours ago

Naindeep Singh Joins Fresno City Council Race as Campaign Fundraising Totals Roll In

4 hours ago

Fresno Home Suffers Major Damage in Saturday Night Fire, Family Cat Rescued

4 hours ago

Senator to Unveil Aviation Safety Bill on Eve of Fatal Crash Hearing

5 hours ago

Fox Business News Host Throws Shade at Merced Over High-Speed Rail

5 hours ago

Trump Says He Turned Down Invitation to Epstein’s Island

5 hours ago

Two Arrested in Dollar General Burglary in Fowler, Third Suspect at Large

Two suspects are behind bars after a commercial burglary at a Dollar General in Fowler, the Fowler Police Department said on Monday. Officer...

40 minutes ago

Two repeat theft offenders were arrested and a third suspect remains at large after a burglary at a Dollar General in Fowler, police said. (Fowler PD)
40 minutes ago

Two Arrested in Dollar General Burglary in Fowler, Third Suspect at Large

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., June 3, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

New York City Mayor Says ‘Active Shooter’ Incident Taking Place in Manhattan

The Grand Sierra Resort casino is seen after a fatal shooting in Reno, Nevada, U.S., July 28, 2025 in this still image taken from a video. ABC Affiliate KOLO via REUTERS
1 hour ago

Shooting Outside Casino in Reno, Nevada, Leaves 3 Victims Dead, 2 Critically Wounded

2 hours ago

Fresno County Repeat DUI Offender Sentenced to 15 Years to Life for Deadly Crash

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a nuclear cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani (not pictured), at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 16, 2025. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)
2 hours ago

Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Entry to US Over Travel Ban

Fresno City Hall Fresno Police Officers Association
2 hours ago

Fresno Seals Deal with Police Union. No Deal Yet With Firefighters.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam March 2, 2019. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

North Korea Says Trump Must Accept New Nuclear Reality

San Diego Homeless Encampment
3 hours ago

What Does Trump Crackdown on Homelessness Mean for California?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend