OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – The first week of school is primarily orientation for parents, students, and teachers in the Oakland Unified School District.
However, this week’s orientation involves distance learning.
That is happening against the backdrop of contract negotiations between OUSD and the teacher’s union.
Day one of distance learning is officially in the books in the Oakland Unified School District.
Aside from navigating the new technology one of the major takeaways for some teachers.
“Some of the big takeaways I got from my colleagues? Whole group was insane at the high school level. That is because you’re coming in with freshmen that you don’t know. There are so many of them. You don’t have those relationships established yet. So there’s some extra behavior if you will. So there was some of that,” Chaz Garcia, Oakland Education Association, said.
“In the beginning, there were some technical issues with sound,” John Jones III, parent of an OUSD elementary school student, said.
A key observation for John Jones III is the number of classmates online for his son’s first class.
“There were only three students total. I feel like those other students who weren’t there were robbed of that relationship building that takes place,” Jones said.
Officials with the teachers union say they believe it is important to listen to the first week observations from parents, students and teachers.
“That actually gives us an opportunity to engage parents, students, and educators and find out what is working,” Garcia said.
Updating the ongoing contract negotiation.
“Money is not the issue. Our sticking points right now are they’re shrinking a semester which is a few months, down to six weeks. Another issue is being able to use our retired teachers, our teacher substitutes. No mandated schedules begin before 9 a.m. or after 2:15 p.m. That’s to give allowances for folks who are caregivers to parents, sick ones, or children,” Garcia said.
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