Long after one's kids graduate from BHS it's easy to recall how central to the community it (and Mills) are, hence my interest in this crazy school year. I noted the uncertainty that was being felt in town a month and a half ago here. Now that sessions have started, there is some information available on what is being done in the way of tech access. Across the nine schools in the District, more than half of 7,500 Chromebooks have been distributed and another 2,200 are on order. 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots have been distributed and 90 outdoor access points will be installed–BHS and Mills are apparently deployed already. 800 Zoom accounts have been set up.
I've gotten the link to the SMUSHD Board's first meeting post-restart; it was recorded and is available on YouTube here. You can see BHS Principal Paul Belzer give a five minute update starting at 2:15:30. He noted excellent attendance at "Panther Prep" day where 1,100-1,200 Chromebooks were passed out. The counselors at BHS helped 90 students sign up for community college courses (an accelerated study tactic mentioned in the comments on the July post linked above) and another 135 students signed up for about 500 independent study courses. He notes the challenge will be "Zoom fatigue". No surprise there and it will be interesting to see how kids, parents and teachers react over time as it gets tougher to focus day after day, week after week.
For reference, San Mateo County is at 7,535 total cases with 14% being age 19 and below. Hopefully Zoom attendance data will be regularly released so everyone can gauge the effectiveness vs. the risk of reopening the physical classrooms.
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