On Friday, students took home Chromebook laptops, while staff took part in a video training on how to manage attendance and assignments through digital platforms, said Gonzalez.
"It's difficult, but we know we can get through it," he said. "And most important, our students are still going to be served and our teachers still supported during this time."
Initially district officials and union leaders agreed teachers would adopt a modified teaching schedule, providing a 50-minute lesson plan to students, making assignments, and verifying that students had completed those assignments, said Gonzalez.
But that plan changed by Friday evening: The district now encourages families and staff to engage with students in remote learning, uploading a structured plan for teachers to use, but calls the effort voluntary.
Superintendent Matthew Duffy posted a message over the weekend, saying, "Because we cannot ensure access to every student in our district, we will not mandate the distance learning as a required instructional program for the next two weeks."
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday told schools they would not lose state funding when they close, and he directed schools to use the funds for "distance learning and high quality educational opportunities," along with providing meals and arranging supervision for children during school hours.
Jennifer Walden, an English teacher at Pinole Valley High School, said she sent her students home Friday with a book about inventions called "How We Got to Now" by Steven Johnson. She plans to send her students questions and assign reading logs next week.
"A lot of reading assignments in English are writing and submitted online anyway," Walden said. "But I don’t know what the science teachers are going to do.”
Walden said the big question is whether teachers will try and teach in real time on platforms like Google Meet, which she said Pinole Valley High's Spanish teachers were experimenting with.
Other school districts, like Burlingame School District, have been planning for closure by identifying special education students who may need special assistance, developing translated messages for families of English learners and considering ways to support parents of younger children with child care options.
Math educators at San Francisco Unified School District are sharing elementary school lessons they've created for use during the school closures.