Record-high number of suicidal children forces San Francisco to sue its own school district to reopen



Following an alarming number of child suicides and suicide attempts, the city of San Francisco is suing its own school district to reopen.

The University of California-San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital at Mission Bay reported record-high numbers of suicidal children seen and treated last month. "The UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital has seen a 66% increase in the number of suicidal children in the emergency room, and a 75% increase in youth who required hospitalization for mental health services, the lawsuit said, quoting pediatricians, child psychiatrists and emergency room doctors," USA Today reported. Doctors also saw an increase in anxiety, depression, and eating disorders among children.

The lawsuit calls for San Francisco's public schools to reopen, saying classroom closures are "catalyzing a mental health crisis among school-aged children." Schools have been closed for in-person learning since March.

The lawsuit filed by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera includes "alarming testimony from hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, doctors, and parents on the emotional and mental harms of extended distance learning."

"The medical evidence is clear that keeping public schools closed is catalyzing a mental health crisis among school-aged children in San Francisco," Dr. Jeanne Noble, director of COVID Response for the UCSF Emergency Department, said.

One San Francisco parent said her 7-year-old son had "uncontrollable meltdowns that turn (the) whole house upside down." Meanwhile, her 10-year-old daughter is exhibiting "depression and anger." The mother believes her daughter's "mental health will continue to suffer" as long as she is kept out of the classroom.

Another mother said her 15-year-old daughter cries often, is frustrated, and "losing faith not just in [San Francisco Unified School District] SFUSD but in the world."

The lawsuit highlighted that 114 of San Francisco's private, parochial, and charter schools have reopened to 15,831 students and about 2,400 staff. Those schools have had fewer than five cases of suspected in-person transmission, according to the lawsuit.

"Distance learning is a form of instruction; it is not school," the lawsuit says. The suit argues that children need the emotional, social, and developmental skills that can only be learned in-person. The lawsuit says that denying students to go to school "constitutes a substantial violation of their constitutional rights."

"SFUSD and teachers' union leadership need to step up. Get your act together, [district] leadership has earned an F," Herrera said. "It's unfortunate we have to take them to court to get it sorted out, but enough is enough."

Public health officials gave the green light for schools to reopen in September, but the district and teachers unions have not been able to reach an agreement to reopen classrooms. The San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Education did have time to bar a gay parent from being appointed to the Parent Advisory Council because he was white. School officials also found time to begin a campaign to rename several San Francisco schools that are deemed "inappropriate," including Presidents George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

"We wholeheartedly agree that students are better served with in-person learning," the school district's spokeswoman, Laura Dudnick, said on Thursday. "Bringing students back to school in a large public school district is very complex and requires partnership."

"We are eager for the city to make vaccines available to our staff," Dudnick said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines on how schools should reopen, and the health agency declared that school reopenings should not be conditional on having teachers and faculty vaccinated.

In July, Dr. Robert Redfield, the now-former director of the CDC, warned about the psychological damage that lockdowns and remote schooling could inflict on children.

"But there has been another cost that we've seen, particularly in high schools," he said. "We're seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from COVID. We're seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose that are above excess that we had as background than we are seeing the deaths from COVID."

The former CDC director also said in July that he would "100%" have his grandchildren go back to school.

Last month, the nation's fifth-largest school district declared that it wants to reopen as "quickly as possible" following a rash of student suicides. Clark County School District in Nevada saw double the amount of student suicides in nine months this year compared to all of last year.

San Francisco sues its own school district over failure to come up with a reopening plan: 'Get your act together'



What is a left-wing city to do when its own, union-dominated school district refuses to even come up with a plan to reopen, which is required by state law?

In San Francisco, city leaders are suing their own school district and board of education, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A California state law passed last year, months before the 2020-21 school year began, requires all school districts to created and adopt a clear plan during the pandemic detailing actions they "will take to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible," the newspaper said.

But the San Francisco Unified School District, thanks at least in part to the teachers' union, has failed to even start coming up with a plan, much less adopt one.

Therefore, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced Wednesday that "he has sued the San Francisco Board of Education and the San Francisco Unified School District for failing to come up with a reopening plan that meets state requirements," according to an announcement on his city attorney website.

The lawsuit alleges that board and district's reopening plan is "woefully inadequate and doesn't meet the basic requirements set by the state." The suit seeks to have the San Francisco Superior Court order the district "to prepare to offer in-person instruction now that it is possible to do so safely," the announcement said.

The city has "squandered months of opportunity" to address the issue, Herrera's site said — all the while the district's 54,000 students have not seen the inside of a classroom for nearly 11 months, the Chronicle reported.

Still, Herrera noted, the SFUSD "does not have an adequate plan to reopen classrooms" and the city's kids are "facing a widening achievement gap & threats to their mental health."

It has been more than 10 months since students were in schools, and @SFUnified still does not have an adequate plan… https://t.co/svzRjDjuYy
— Dennis Herrera (@Dennis Herrera)1612374328.0

Despite the fact that "students and their families are suffering," the school board has refused to stay focused on the need to reopen and instead spent their time on "renaming empty schools" and other less pressing needs.

Herrera noted that the city's rules have allowed schools to be in-person since September and that scientific consensus shows schools can safely reopen.

Yet, San Francisco's schools remain shuttered.

San Francisco's health orders have allowed in-person schools since September. The undisputed scientific consensus i… https://t.co/3Zc0EhSfEJ
— Dennis Herrera (@Dennis Herrera)1612374329.0

The city attorney knew exactly at whom to point the finger of blame: district leadership and the teachers' union.

"It's a shame it has come to this," Herrera said in his office's announcement. "The City has offered resources, logistical help and public health expertise. Unfortunately, the leadership of the school district and the educators' union can't seem to get their act together. The Board of Education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get these kids back in school. So far they have earned an F. Having a plan to make a plan doesn't cut it."

Union officials thwarted an effort by the district to "gradually open schools for severely disabled children" in January, the Chronicle reported. Several other unions continue to stand in the way of reopening, the newspaper said:

Six unions representing workers in the San Francisco Unified School District are circulating a petition among their members calling for a dozen requirements that go far beyond the Department of Public Health's requirements. For example, they're requesting reliable transportation for students and staff even though Muni service has been slashed due to the pandemic.

Separately, a group of union educators have formed a committee called Strike Ready that is urging a strike if reopening proceeds without all school employees having access to the COVID-19 vaccine, adequate personal protective equipment, ventilation, purifiers and training.

Herrera took his accusations and complaints to social media, writing on Twitter, "SFUSD and teachers' union leadership need to step up. Get your act together," adding, "[district] leadership has earned an F. It's unfortunate we have to take them to court to get it sorted out, but enough is enough."

In terms of helping our students and their families through this difficult time, @SFUnified leadership has earned a… https://t.co/o0NEaUytfZ
— Dennis Herrera (@Dennis Herrera)1612374329.0

And Herrera isn't doing this on his own, he's got the full support of left-wing Democratic Mayor London Breed.

"This is not the path we would have chosen, but nothing matters more right now than getting our kids back in school," Breed said. "The city has offered resources and staff to get our school facilities ready and to support testing for our educators. We've offered the guidance and expertise of the Department of Public Health. We are ready and willing to do our part to get our kids back in the classroom."

She went on to note the impact closed schools are having on students who have "lost ground academically" as well has how the situation is "hurting the mental health of our kids and our families."

"[T]his isn't working for anyone," Breed added. "And we know we can do this safely. We've seen our private schools open and our City-run community learning hubs serve our most at-need kids for months without any outbreaks. We need to get our schools open."

Acronyms are 'symptom of white supremacy,' San Francisco school official says. So acronym is thrown out and replaced with — another acronym.



San Francisco's public schools have been making some pretty negative national headlines of late:

And now the district's Arts Department is getting into the act and taking the radical step of dropping its acronym name "VAPA" — which stands for Visual and Performing Arts — and changing it altogether, KGO-TV reported.

'Acronyms are a symptom of white supremacy culture'

Why? Well, the station said the director of the arts department wrote in a memo that "acronyms are a symptom of white supremacy culture."

"The use of so many acronyms within the educational field often times tends to alienate those who may not speak English to understand those acronyms," department Director Sam Bass told KGO.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

So what's the new name?

Drumroll, please ... SFUSD Arts Department.

(Just don't tell 'em the new moniker leads with yet another acronym.)

Still, Bass told the station that "it's a very simple step we can take to just be referred to as the SFUSD Arts Department for families to better understand who we are."

The anti-acronym thing is based on a 1999 paper by Tema Okun titled, "White Supremacy Culture," KGO said, adding that Okun told the station that "our culture perpetuates racism when things continue to be written down in a certain way."

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Bass added to KGO that his department also is "prioritizing antiracist arts instruction in our work."

The station also wondered if the district's acronym "SOTA" — which stands for School of the Arts — should instead be called the Ruth Asawa School, and Bass was all in favor of it.

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

Image source: KGO-TV video screenshot

"In the same sprit of getting rid of acronyms, I do believe in calling it Ruth Asawa," he told KGO.

The district also informed the station that there's no official districtwide policy or plan related to acronyms.

But there's always hope.