Zoom Blues: Back To School Amid Tech Woes In Orange County

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Zoom issues across the country may have hiccupped the system, but overall, Laguna Beach Unified School District made the most of the day, according to the district.

"Zoom service has been inconsistent and intermittent with many school district accounts working fine while many others did not," Leisa Winston, Deputy Superintendent, wrote in an email to parents.

With a worldwide Zoom connection issue, that Winston says "had the biggest concentration on the West coast," the district sought different strategies for engaging their students.

As the district urged educators to "begin the process of developing relationships with their students," as is the typical first-day strategy, Laguna Beach parents and students waded through multiple email notifications from teachers trying to start their classes.

First day jitters weren't reserved just for students. Parents, also, had their share of worries on day one. Longtime Laguna Beach resident, mother, and Laguna Beach School Board candidate Sheri Morgan spent the day helping her daughters navigate the bumpy first day of online learning.

Morgan tells Patch she spent the first day of school getting her daughters organized in their respective middle school and high school classes. With only one Zoom class working for one of her daughters on day one, the frustration levels rose swiftly.

With over 17 years of experience in the district, she has been supportive of the board but has been concerned with how the school district would pivot to meaningful online instruction.

According to LBUSD spokeswoman Anakaren Ureno, District staff stayed focused on relationship building, a critical aspect of starting a new school year.

Even though the zoom connection issue bumped many off, making students unable to participate in live class sessions, teachers and staff changed tactics for the day. The district requested they spend the day reaching out to students individually, connecting with them using alternative methods today such as phone, text, chat, email exchanges, and discussion boards.

"My daughters got multiple emails from teachers, but only one or two were truly personal," Morgan told Patch. "I hope tomorrow they hit the ground running, as the district is compressing a whole year of classes into one trimester. There's no time to lose."

The glitchy start to the year was a rude awakening for students who "haven't done anything since June," Morgan says. Over the summer, Laguna students have spent more time at the beach or online. All camps closed or virtual, during the pandemic.

Morgan hopes that the district has plans to use funds raised toward social and emotional support to help students navigate the challenges of attending school in a virtual environment.

Overall, back-to-school excitement is still contagious in her house, Morgan says, adding, "Laguna Beach is lucky that we have such amazing teachers."

How do you feel about the back-to-school plans in Laguna Beach, and elsewhere? Let us know in comments, or by emailing your Patch editor: ashley.ludwig@patch.com