LAX Leader

Sen. Brian Dahle agrees that in-person classes should resume.

“The city of San Francisco filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against its own school district,” Dahle tweeted. “The city wants students back in school and they are not alone. Students need to be in the classroom, where they can fully engage with what they are learning.”

City Attorney Dennis Herrera, supported by Mayor London Breed, filed a suit against the San Francisco Unified School District and Board of Education.

The lawsuit alleges school administrators of violating a state requirement that districts should be able to adopt a viable plan “to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible” during the pandemic, Herrera said.

He further said that the move to sue the school district and education board is a move to save and use what’s left of the school year.

“Not a single San Francisco public school student has set foot in their classroom in 347 days,” Herrera said at a news conference, KCRA Channel 3 reported. “More than 54,000 San Francisco schoolchildren are suffering. They are being turned into Zoom-bies by online school. Enough is enough.”

Herrera pointed out that there are already 113 private and parochial schools in San Francisco that have opened.

“We have been a national leader in our response to COVID,” Breed said. "Let’s be a national leader in getting our kids back to school."

While San Francisco schools have been allowed to reopen since September, some teachers are not confident to hold in-person classes until they are vaccinated.

School district Superintendent Vincent Matthews noted the fluctuating virus rates and a lack of vaccines, and mentioned that the lawsuit will not in any way improve the situation, ensuring that they “absolutely have a comprehensive plan” for reopening.

“This isn’t helpful,” Matthews said. “We’re all in this San Francisco pandemic bubble together, and turning on us is not helpful whatsoever.”