Fresno Unified parents are planning to rally Thursday afternoon to protest what they say is the district's failure to fight for their right to choose whether their kids are in class or on distance learning. Bullard area parent Catherine Peters, who is helping to organize the event, said Tuesday that...
These Clovis Unified Kids Will Be Back at School Starting Monday
Some of Clovis Unified School District's most needy students will return to school starting Monday, spokeswoman Kelly Avants says. About 300 severely disabled students of all ages and preschoolers and kindergartners enrolled in the Program for the Acquisition of Language and Social Skills will come individually to campus no more...
School Zone Now Has Its Own Facebook Page, So Let’s Talk
Parents, students, and educators are facing some incredible challenges, and responding incredibly in many cases, during the COVID-19 pandemic. If we didn't know before that Zoom is a noun (online videoconference platform) and a verb (to go really fast), we do now, and we've learned a whole lot more. Making...
New School-Opening Guidelines Bring Good News for Special Needs Students
Like many students across the Valley, Jodie Howard's son has struggled with distance learning since schools closed abruptly last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has autism and has a hard time understanding why his computer, once a source of gaming fun, now represents hard work and challenges as...
New State Policy Opens Local Schools for A Few Kids
New guidelines from the California Department of Public Health opens the door to allowing small numbers of students back on campuses closed since March 13. A lot of details remain to be hashed out, and Valley officials on Wednesday were studying the Cohorting Guidance to learn how it might apply...
Distance Learning Comes with a Learning Curve for Students, Parents, Teachers
Nearly all of Fresno County's 208,000 students have been outfitted with internet access and laptops or tablets for their distance learning, Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino said Wednesday. But there are rural pockets where students haven't been able to get online, which Yovino said "is a bigger concern to me."...
Internet Problems Snag Start of New School Year in Fresno
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 School District website servers couldn't handle the demand and had to be shut...
With Schools Closed, What Options Do Working Parents Have for Kids?
The school year is starting and many working parents are facing the same conundrum they faced last spring — how do you juggle a full-time job with overseeing your kids' distance learning because schools are still closed? Some parents are creating pods with other parents to share learning oversight and...
Fresno Unified Board Extends Trustee Slatic’s Censure for 1 Year
The Fresno Unified School District board voted Wednesday to extend Trustee Terry Slatic's censure by one year, saying that he has failed to make changes in his behavior that led to the original censure. The vote was 6-0, with Slatic abstaining as he did a year ago on the first...
School Closed, but Kids Still Need Vaccinations for Distance Learning
Students and their families have had their lives turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with distance learning set to resume or even underway, here comes another curveball. California law says students still need to prove they've been vaccinated before they can start online school. No immunization, no enrollment...