of essential workers and what's available. what we plan to have this summer and what people can do to either sign up or what other programs to do to prepare under the new guideline for the programs that they want to make available to people. so, let's get started. phil, you -- we hit the ball running, both you and maria su got together because we knew the schools were going to close. but we also knew that there was an essential workforce out there. people who were driving muni, people who were working at hospitals. they had children.

they needed child care. they were concerned about taking their children to their elderly parents. they couldn't leave them at home. tell us a little bit about the program that you established that is available currently and will potentially be extended once programming starts for june 15 during the summer. >> thank you, mayor. yeah. you asked us as soon as the schools closed to start thinking about our kids and working families, particularly our health care workers and first responders and people who were needed to help in the city's response. and so the department of children, youth and family and recreation park department are working closely together under the guidance of department of public health, set up an emergency child care system that is now in its 12th week. we, over time, served over 475 kids, 19,000 hours of child care offered during that time and we served over 4,000 meals

at over 25 different sites. the program runs between 6:30 in the morning and 7:30 p.m. and kids have been involved in distance learning and a little bit of recreation and it's really been, you know, wasn't what we were used to doing and we had to stand it up pretty quickly, but it has been an amazing experience and i'm really grateful for my partner in runing this thing, maria, and the department of youth and family who have been terrific. >> and i want to just add -- because i know that, you know, sadly, you had these kids and these pods with limited number of social distancing. these are kids coming together on a regular basis. something similar to what we're going to be doing this summer. and, unfortunately, there have been people who have made nasty comments or complained or even yelled at, you know, the kids. and so what i want to say to people is to back off and mind your own business and to leave kids alone. because at the end of the day,

these are kids whose family members are putting their lives on the line to help support this city. so, i can't reiterate enough that it's important that folks really just stay in their lane, mind your own business. we're providing essential service. and we want to extend this and make this available to more kids. so, let's talk a little bit about -- phil, can you just talk a little bit about june 15? >> sure. >> we're going start programming and we're going to extend the number of kids that we're able to serve. not just in our park system, but our overall summer program so i want you, phil, to touch on what will be available for our park system, both for our young people and our teenagers and then we're going to jump into maria su to talk about programming in general. >> sure. so, our child care operation -- it's summer, and child care was intended to operate while during the school year while

the school system -- when the school system was closed and what families and kids are used to during the summer is camp. you're right. the truth of the matter, it will look somewhat similar in that we're going to have pods of 12, but beginning june 15, rec and park -- between rec and park t private sector camp providers and our nonprofit providers we expect that there will be over 200 different camps available to kids can. we are going to prioritize. kids of parents who are working in essential businesses, who are part of the city's response, who are, you know, in allowable businesses and, frankly t kids who need us the most right now. many of our kids in the city have been without their coaches and mentors for going on 10 weeks and we want to reengage

and make sure that these kids, above all else, have something to do this summer. so, starting june 15, camp providers will be allowed to operate. they're going to need to certify that they're going to comply with the health order and guidance coming out of public health, which means kids still need to be in pods of 12 for older kids. the minimum session for camp providers will be three weeks and the boll rationale behind that is to keep kids from normally during a normal summer kids go to one week of this camp and one week of another camp and the health -- and our public health officials have asked us to keep kids together in a consistent pod. so we'll have three three-week sessions beginning june 15. at rec and park, we're planning over 25 different camps. we expect there to be another 40 to 50 private camp providers operating in our park system. i believe that maria is

estimating nearly 100 nonprofit camp providers will operate around the city and then there are some other muscle private providers that will be operating on, you know, nonpark property in different spaces. we're going to start working with camp providers as quickly as possible, right after we're done speaking with you. and for our camps, for rec and park camps, we'll begin priority registration on may 26 for all of the participants that are currently in our emergency child care program and our kids in our scholarship program who are a little bit more vulnerable and who really, really need us. we're going reach out to those populations first and then city-wide, registration for rec and park camps will begin on june 6. all of this information will be laid out on the department of children, youth and family's

website, dcyf/cares.org. and i'll turn it over to maria to talk about the other providers and program staffing. >> thank you, phil. thank you, mayor, for this opportunity to share with our residents of the work that we're doing right now. so, like the mayor shared, we are in the process of expanding the opportunities for families, particularly for summer. we're really excited about this because, as a parent myself who has two children, this is going to be great opportunity for our young -- our young people to go out there and engage with others and just really address the social isolation issues that we know is happening in our families right now. so dcyf is really excited to be partnering with rec and parks and the rest of our summer providers in the city to stand up all of these programs for

the dcyf-specific agencies, which are the nonprofit agencies, that our department provides supports to, we are going to be working with them to open up camps and programs that they will then be made available for all of our families. we are looking at around 100 programs that will be available for families starting june 15. we are asking all of our nonprofit agencies to follow health guidelines, which still has shared, restrictive groups of young people in consistent three-week programming at a minimum. we will also put on our website, dcyf.org/care. more information around the health order, around the drexives and the guidelines,

with how private camps are also fulfill all of those requirements and then document that they are going to open up. so look for that website to go live -- actually the website is live now. but look for the forms to go live soon. >> great. >> and over time, mayor, i think we're going to try to inventory -- try to provide parents with as much information as we can about all of the camp opportunities because we have to think about it as a network this summer because of the health guidelines. so, we hope to be able to have a list and some reference materials for not just rec and park camps, but all of the private camps happening around the city, too. >> yeah. and i want to touch a little bit because, you know, child care has been important because we have allowed that to continue for essential workers. can you talk a little bit,

maria, what we can expect as it relates to the 0 to 5 age group and what might be available during the summer? >> yes. so, we're really excited that this new health order that you have authorized with our health department to allow the expansion of child care services for more families. so, there are child care programs for children 0 to 5 right now that are providing services for our essential workers and other allowable businesses. under this new health order, we are now opening that opportunity for more families. we have hear that there are families out there who are working, who need care, who really, really need care for their children. and for children to need -- to need opportunities to be with their friends. so, this health order will allow more families to have access to these slots, these child care slots. i do want to caution folks that

we are still following health guidelines and so the slots are going to be limited. we are restricted to a smaller group of children per site. so i just want to set expectations for everyone that it's not just usual child care as we remember how it was a year ago. >> yeah. and i do think it's great that, you know, this is providing an opportunity for kids to come together. so we're talking about pods of 12 within the course of a summer camp or preschool or in other arenas so that not only can kids -- can parents get to work, but also it gives these children an tounlts interact with one another because i'm sure, especially if it is a child who doesn't have any siblings, to be able to play

with another kid was -- like i know everything for me as a kid and i just feel so awful that these kids can't go out there and enjoy one another. this is an opportunity and a great opportunity. but i also, sadly, know it is a very limited opportunity. but do want to touch on, you know, teenagers because i know one of things that happens often times they are always left out. so i am commited to making sure that opportunities for all is available so that we have paid internships for kids during the summer. and that we make that available, especially for our teenagers. because, you know, already they're missing their graduations and activities and events. and we want to make sure that they have a productive summer as well and they're not left out. so, maria, make you can touch on what might be happening with opportunities for all and i know that with rec and park, we

have a number of teens that are going to be working and helping with these camps during summer. let's talk a little bit about, you know, how kids who are teenagers can sign up for some of the programs. >> thank you, mayor. so actually a lot of our programs are doing a lot of connections to young people now but they're doing it remotely. they're doing a lot of wellness checks and follow-up on what academic support these young people need. so, once again with this health order, we're now allowed to have face-to-face and in-person connections with these young people. so, we're going to work closely with our nonprofit agencies to help young people connect to internship opportunities or actual job opportunities at some of these summer programs or at offices that are slowly opening up. so, there's great opportunities for private sector folks who are now interested -- who are opening up and would be

interested in being a mentor for a young person this summer. that would be amazing. however, if that is not available, our young people are actually engaging in project-based learning right now. so a lot of our young people in our workforce program will be doing small projects that are -- that is remote for the agencis that they're assigned to. there will be engagement but it is so much better if the engagement is in person and not remote. i do -- >> how do they sign up? like a teenager that wants to participate and have access to a paid internship? >> for now, we're directing everyone to go to dcyf.org/care so they can find out what's

available in the community and make sections there. i also do want to say that, for young people and for families who are struggling right now because there are young people and familis who are struggling right now we do have a website that is available and under the mayor's leadership, she wanted to prioritize mental health services for families and for our essential workers and other service providers. for those who are struggling and who need support, please go to fieldsan francisco.org to learn more about different resources for parents, for young people and for adults and service providers. >> and also can we call 3-1-1 and be referred if we don't have access to the internet? >> yes. we'll definitely make sure that that's possible. >> great. great. we want to make it as easy for people as possible because i know sometimes you jump on a website and trying to figure it out or if you don't have

internet access but want to ma you are that your friend knows that this might be available for their family. talk about what some of the teens are going to be doing in your program this summer. >> sure. for the last 607 years, san francisco has had a program called workreation, where we actually fund teenagers, kids between the ages of 14 and 17 to work in our camps. and because of your leadership and focus on getting these camps opened safely and getting kids an experience, we're hiring approximately 200 kid this is summer that will be counselors in the camps that we just talked about. i also think there is an amazing opportunity, mayor, for those private camp providers that want to operate this summer to hire teenagers. here's why. the health order and the health guidance requires a minimum of

two staff for every pod of 12 kids. and for private camp providers used to operating with a ton of kids and a few staff, you won't able to do that this year and staff won't be able to move around between pods during the camp session. for private camps to operate, they need to be very well-staffed and we highly, highly recommend that private camp providers hire teenagers to help and provide some support in making sure that your camps operate safely and smoothly and gives these kids a great experience and opportunity to make some money. >> i want to provide an example because, for example, we have been providing a camp at -- well, i guess it is called a camp, i don't know what it is called, but we have been providing support for young people whose families are essential workers at hamilton rec center. so hamilton rec center has

several rooms that could be used. so, i know that the plan is there is going to be probably two or three pods of 12. and each of those pods have their own rooms and their own activities around their rooms and they are also able to go outside and enjoy the field but not in the same pod, although they have their workers that are assigned to their pods. so, it provides for more opportunity to support more young people. so, the good news is even when they're in these situations, they're social distancing, but you know how it is when you're a kid and you're out playing, most likely you're going to somehow have some interaction where you might touch or be next to each other. so that is really why the importance of keeping these pods to what they are is significant in preventing the spread of the virus and giving these kids a chance to have their community of people to hang out with.

>> yeah. i think that is what we're going for. it is super important for kids to first of all get outside and reengage and, yes, there will be indoor spaces. but a lot more emphasis on being outside this summer for children. and as you know, mayor, for them to be together and hang out and a under the health guidance to your very early point for those who are concerned about the health of our children, under the health guidance, kids within the same pod can play sports. they can do certain activities. >> so, k they play basketball together? can they -- >> together, within the same pod. they can do those activities. and that is why this whole pod concept is very important. our public health officials have been focused on minimizing risk. it is impossible to eliminate it 100%. but minimizing it. and that is the whole premise of these long three-week sessions and these pods of 12. depending upon which spaces a

camp uses a camp may be able to have only one pod of 12 kids but may be able to have two pods or even three pods. as you know in hamilton or season seth rec center where the richmond or jolie, some of our buildings have multiple spaces, some schools where camps might operate have have multiple spaces. and then we've got the best park system in the country. so, we have plenty of outdoor spaces as well. for each pod, each pod requires a minimum of two staff people and staff cannot circulate between pods. so, again, for all you private camp providers out there, hire kids to help you this summer. >> all right. well thank you all so much for the insight. i'm sure a lot of parents are excited about this. i am hopeful that, you know, some of the -- in addition to the private -- the public camps that we'll provide with rec and park and a number of rec centers and nonprofit partners will be able to provide a

sufficient number of locations within the public sector and hopefully in combination with the private sector, many of our kids can have an enjoyable, effective, fun summer. so, we appreciate that and for more information, make sure that we reach out to department of children youth and families on the website or call 3-1-1 and before we wrap it up, i do want to talk a little bit about this weekend because it's memorial day weekend and typically everyone -- first of all, the weather in san francisco, even today, is gorgeous. and most of the time people want to go out and have barbecues and hang out with friends and family and i really like the idea of what you did in terms of circles in park to make it clear like you have to stay away from each other. we want to be next to each other so bad. but at the same time, we're doing so well. we still see the numbers of infections going up. but we see the number of

hospitalizations going down, the number of those who are in i.c.u. going down. san francisco is doing well. and the last thing we want to do is get too comfortable and all of a sudden go backwards so we still need people to keep their distance. we still need people to wear masks. we still need people to wash their hands regularly! wash your hands! but phil, tell us a little bit about what we can expect with the parks this weekend because we are, as much as we know people would want to use the parks, we'll be out in force regulating during memorial day weekend. again, we don't want to shut down any parks but if it comes down to that point where things are out of control and aren't following the guidelines, we won't have a choice. we really need people to be on their absolute best behavior. so, tell us about what we can expect with our parks this weekend. >> sure. i mean, mayor, you covered it

perfectly, which is that, look, our parks are super important right now. they are the one place where people can get outside, get some exercise, connect with nature and you have been amazing at making sure that these spaces are open and accessible. but for them to stay open and accessible, people need to do the right thing and over the last 10, 11 weeks, most people have been. but we need to focus and not ease up so you can be outside but you have to socially distance. we still recommend that you wear a mask. no partying, you know, no big events, no big picnics. just enjoy nature and enjoy a little time with your own immediate family or your own roommates. we will have park ranger, san francisco police department, police officers. we'll have sheriff's cadets, fire cadets, police cadets and the neighborhood emergency

response team, all doing education and outreach. there are over 1500 signs in all of our parks indicating what you can and can't do. just do the right thing so we don't put the mayor in a position where she needs to take more drastic action. it is amazing, mayor, in a lot of cities just threw their hands up and say, oh, parks closed because we don't want to deal with it. you haven't done that. you've kept parks open for people. so, you know, we're all asking the public to do the right thing this weekend. the weather will be nice. you will want to get outside. if you have to get in a car, it's too far. so go to your neighborhood park, enjoy it. but socially distance. if you're deloris or jackson or the marina green or washington square, we've offered a little bit of pop-up behavioral art to inspire you to claim your own space. that is the circles that are in some of the parks. and, you know, they're intended to be joyous and inspirational,

but intended to remind everyone that we need to be mindful as we continue to fight this virus. >> and i just want to say that please don't get offended if, you know, our park rangers or someone walks up to you and asks you, you know, are you guys in the same household just to, you know, make sure that people are following these orders. we have a responsibility. and the other thing is, if you're not the police, then please don't act like you're the police. we don't need you to walk and regulate and tell other people what to do because that creates more drama. it creates more tension. so we are doing the very best we can. we want to make this park and open space available to you because we know how challenging this has been. for the most part, san franciscans have followed the order and we are so fortunate that we have amazing residents in the city who are taking this seriously, even though not everyone is complying which has made life difficult in some respects.

but please let us deal with that. we're doing our very best to try and reduce this curve to the point of it being nonexistence because i know how badly we want to get back to being out there, to going to work and allowing kids to play. but the fact is coronavirus is with us for some time. it is not about getting back completely to normal. it's about adjusting to our new normal in a responsible way. it is going to take time. it's going to take ai, patience. we appreciate everyone for what you continue to do to help san francisco be a leader in this effort. thank you, phil ginsburg, thank you, maria su for your insight. for more information call 3-1-1. i know there might be a lot of questions also about the schools and other things. we're happy to continue these conversations based on your feedback. based on your questions. because many of us are doing the very best we can.

this is not like anything any of us have ever expected. so, we're all in this together. we're going to get through this together and that requires us to continue to be patient, get information to you as soon as it is available and just really try to come together, lift one another up, enjoy the memorial day weekend. and thank you all so much for your cooperation. have a great weekend and we'll see you next week.

>> announcer: you're watching coping with covid-19. >> hi. i'm chris manus and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today my guest is anastasia klaste and we're going talk about how the pandemic has affected our school community. welcome to the show. >> hi! thank you. >> i understand that our students and teachers have adopted video conference as distance learning tools to be able to continue studying remotely and this is clearly new for everyone. do you have some suggestions to students and perhaps their parents that could help them manage this new approach? >> i think the best advice i can give students and parents is to really be gentle on yourselves during this time. the thing we don't really want to do is increase stress and anxiety amongst our students

because they know it is a scary, uncertain time aside from the work. so, we are engaging in distance learning and providing work for students to engage in. the mental health of students and their well-being and safety is really at the forefront of our minds and so we're asking parents to keep an eye on their kids and also asking kids to speak up and let us know if they're having trouble f they need to talk to someone, if they need to take a break or they need more time to do work. because that is really what's most important for us. >> right. and what would you say to teachers having a hard time adjusting as well? >> i think our faculty is really lucky in that we were already utilizing google classroom in all of our classes. so the switch from in-person to online is not as extreme as it may have been to some other faculties in other schools. that said, most of us had never engaged in video conferencing

or done any sort of daily online lesson planning. so, i think the same thing i say to parents and students i say to teachers is to just be gentle and give yourself space and know it's ok to make mistakes and it's ok if you're not perfect and we're all sort of learning and doing at the same time. so, that can also be anxiety provoking and that can be hard for taoefers that are used to being really good at what they do and knowing what exactly to say and how to do it every day are grappling with new technology and they're finding that students [inaudible] what they do in person. >> are there concerns about college admissions for high school seniors and juniors? >> i think at first there was a lot of sort of confusion and anxiety for juniors and seniors about colleges. and now that the system has come out with some guidance and

we understand that, you know, the s.a.t. and a.c.t. tests won't be required for the next year, we know that universities have only agreed to accept credit or no credit or pass-no pass grades and looking at students across the country knowing that we're in unprecedented situation now that we've got guidance of clarity around that. students are feeling a lot more comfort. -- comfortable. for our current seniors, most of them got their college acceptances in february and march so those things shouldn't be changing that much. for juniors, you know, now that they know that they have to step it up for the next year because the grades that they're getting this semester may not be letter grades, it might be a pass-no pass, credit-no credit. but it seems from everything that i read or hear, they're working really closely with school districts to make sure

that no student is, you know, adversely affected by the pandemic because of this sort of universal experience for all students. >> indeed. i heard that some kids are worried that they may have to make up the work or retake the whole year? how likely are those scenarios and how will grades be assigned for this semester? >> well, san francisco unified has made a decision through the board of ed that there will be a signing. credit-no credit for 6 through 12th graders and that means that basically they will either full credit for the glass or won't receive credit for class, based on the work that they do and that goes into a gaap of neutral so it shouldn't raise or lower any specific student's g.p.a., but just give them credit toward graduation. from what i can tell, california has been pretty clear that no student will have to retake this year. as educators, we do acknowledge

that thereby a little bit of catchup happening in the fall. >> right. have your students had a variety of different experiences during this pandemic? >> yes. i would say definitely. our school serves a big at-risk group of kids. we have students from every zip code and city, basically. and students from all sorts of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses so on one hand they have their high speed wi-fi and it's no problem for them to hop on a zoom call or get their google docs turned in and then we have a lot of situations where they may not have wi-fi so they're delivering hotspots or they have a device but it is shared among several siblings or the parents are using it during the day and the kids have only a certain amount of time that they can engage. so, you know, something that

the teachers have talked about being mindful of and i'm definitely being mindful, as a principal, is that our students are in various situations and we can't assume anything about their access in their ability to [inaudible] right now. for some of them, they're caring for siblings or grandma, living at home. many of them have family members affected by covid and so they're in a space where they're really just trying to take care of those around them. and academics are sort of on the backburner and for right now that's ok. you know, we sort of support them in whatever way they need. >> i understand. have you been able to provide any technical assistance to your students or faculty? >> yes. the school district had hotspots so i personally delivered about 50 chrome books to students and now we're

getting hotspots, which are wi-fi devices that utilize cell phone coverage in an area so homes that don't have wi-fi or homes that have spotty wi-fi can use these hotspots and the kids are saying that they work really well and now the district just got a bunch of them so we're able to list them. so any family that needs them right now, which is really great. now all of our faculties have access to high speed wi-fi and technology at home. we are providing them with the technology that they need to be engaged in this. >> i see. and finally s there any news about summer school? >> there is. sort of. it's happening. in some way, shape or form. but we don't really know how or where. i'm assuming it will be online and, as usual, seniors or kids

about to graduate will be prioritized so there'll definitely be some summer school, i'm just not sure where or what at this point. but they're going to share information about that pretty soon. unfortunately all the fun summer programs and jobs, the arts programs and language programs, the acceleration programs are probably not happening. but there will be some sort of credit recovery option for kids who need it. >> right. well, thank you for coming ton show. i really appreciate the time you've given us today. >> yeah. great talking with you. thank you so much for having me. >> that is it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 related information shortly. you've been watching "coping with covid-19." i'm chris manus. thank you for watching.

>> commissioner anderson. >> here. >> commissioner harrison. >> here. >> commissioner mcdonald. >> here. >> okay. good morning, everyone. welcome to the may 21st commission meeting. just a few notes before we get started for the public.