Health, Safety and Well-Being

When the pandemic hit, Alison worked with staff to keep our communities safe, support families, and continue instruction. SFUSD partnered with the community and private sector to distribute over 36,000 laptops and 15,000 hotspots to bridge the digital divide for every student that needed it. When our communities were experiencing food insecurity, the district provided over one-million meals so no child went hungry.

Commissioner Collins advocated for grab-and-go meal service during the pandemic to include families previously overlooked in district planning, including: Chinatown, Tenderloin, SOMA, Treasure Island, Mission and Western Addition/Fillmore neighborhoods.

During shelter-in-place, SFUSD distributed 24,000 backpacks and gave out over 30,000 books. Staff purchased 4,500 recorders and sent them to individual 4th graders’ homes.

In Fall of 2020, Alison supported the Resolution for a Safe Return to In-Person Learning, co-authored by Vice President Gabriela Lopez and Commissioners Jenny Lam and Stevon Cook. This resolution directed SFUSD staff to develop and present to the Board of Education an SFUSD Return Plan, including a phased plan and timeline for grades PK-12. The plan also ensured that students and families who wished to continue with remote learning could do so.

Alison has also been a consistent and early advocate of enhanced safety measures in schools. When the district plan to return to in-person learning was presented, Alison presented amendments to the plan to address healthy air, student masking, and support for outdoor lunch and learning. In December 2020, she advocated for enhanced ventilation in all classrooms (rather than just relying on open windows), and also advocated for increased testing availability for students. In October of 2021, this advocacy paid off to ensure all classrooms are equipped with air filtration systems.

Roadmap to COVID Recovery Resolution

Primary author with Commissioner Gabriela Lopez, in partnership with SFUSD parents

The Roadmap to COVID Recovery Resolution articulates a district commitment to ensuring health and safety protocols are in place at each and every school. It also commits district staff to “work toward the opportunity to mandate full vaccination of District staff.”The Roadmap to COVID Recovery Resolution articulates a district commitment to ensuring health and safety protocols are in place at each and every school. It also commits district staff to “work toward the opportunity to mandate full vaccination of District staff.”

The focus of the resolution is on requesting that the Superintendent draft plans to assess current capacity and what is needed from City, State, and community partners: 1) To provide heightened testing and tracing protocols for staff and students; 2) To provide support for schools that wish to increase the use of outdoor space for instruction and eating when it is feasible. This support may include: procuring tents, increased custodial and lunch monitor staffing; 3) To provide a full-time staff member to serve as a district liaison for our most vulnerable youth and families, including those living in SRO’s and low-income supportive housing.

Additionally, the resolution directs staff to do the following: 1) Work in collaboration with official district parent advisory bodies and labor partners and with the San Francisco Health Department to establish a clear and anonymous complaint system for students, families, and staff for reporting non-compliance. 2) Develop a public assessment for “providing high-quality remote learning options for all families who desire it with no penalties for enrollment in online learning (students won’t lose enrollment in their previously assigned schools)

Our Healing in Our Hands SFUSD Resolution: Creating Schools as Spaces of Student-Driven Healing, Transformation, and Growth

Co-author with Commissioner Faauuga Moliga, and Jenny Lam, in partnership with youth leaders from Chinese for Affirmative Action (CPA) Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC) and Coleman Advocates for Youth and Families – unanimous approval

This resolution increased funding to support preventative wellness services for students. It expanded student voice and skills as leaders and decision-makers and gave them a seat at the table to inform wellness and healing in their schools. It directed the district to hire more wellness staff, including therapists and social workers. It also directed staff to implement peer-led coaching programs with support from CBOs to integrate culturally responsive and linguistically diverse mental health curriculum that address root causes of racism, xenophobia, and sexism.

This resolution was youth-led and was based on a report which outlined the disparate access that students have to mental health services. It specifically called out the lack of access to culturally competent mental health services for students who speak languages other than English. This report also specifically named the overrepresentation of Black and Latinx students who are referred for discipline and the underrepresentation of Asian American students in referrals for mental health support.

Resolution 204-14A1, To Establish Policies and Procedures for the San Francisco Unified School District to Provide Trauma-Informed, Coordinated Care that Promotes Resilience and Healing During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

This resolution adopts a coordination of care plan designed with an equity lens and cultural humility, implementing a Needs Assessment to meet the needs of students, families and educators as well as provide organizational support for all educators and staff and administrators around burnout and secondary traumatic stress. SFUSD will provide wellness mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic for Educators and staff. Including ongoing and consistent mental health coaching for school site administrators and Educators from clinical SFUSD will support and cultivate its pre-existing Crisis Team and include social workers, health workers, nurses, and community partners and utilize needs assessment to assist in creating programming and shift instructional practices to further support the development of healing-centered schools.

In Support of Black Lives in SFUSD and the Abolition of Armed Law Enforcement in Schools #BlackLivesMatter #DefundThePolice #InvestInCommunities #BlackMindsMatter,”

Primary author, coauthors Mark Sanchez and Jenny Lam – unanimous approval

The resolution declared schools a sanctuary space from law enforcement so that we can continue to create safe, healthy, and equitable schools for all SFUSD students. It also calls on support from the City to set policies that align with SFUSD’s goal of protecting youth and families from unnecessary contact with police, such as by investing in Community School Coordinators who can serve as a mechanism for bringing more resources into schools. The resolution also calls on the City to support community and City partners by reinvesting funds currently used for policing and investing those resources into youth development, mentoring, community-based violence prevention, and other social services.

It is time for a change. #DefundThePolice #InvestInCommunity #InvestInOurSchools

Alison has also supported the following policies:

In Support of Utilizing School District Property in Conjunction with Citywide Plan to Establish Safe Sleeping Sites for Unsheltered People, introduced by Commissioners Mark Sanchez and Gabriela Lopez

In Support of the September 16, 2019 “Free Our Children” Day of Action. This resolution was written to protest the encaging of our children, migrant family, and friends. We are in crisis with what is occurring at the border, and at detention centers housing young children and adults in inhumane conditions! CLOSE the CAMPS! FREE the Children! Amnesty Now!