“We are concerned the gap has widened, especially in elementary schools,” said San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Gentle Blythe, adding that supports are in place for the most under-served youth. “But we know remote doesn’t replace in person when it comes to serving our students. We want to return to (school) sites as quickly as possible.”

School board President Gabriela López did not specifically address the problem of learning loss, but she said that parents are doing an amazing job helping their students and that learning has not stopped during the pandemic — rather, it is just different.

“They are learning more about their families and their cultures, spending more time with each other,” López said. “They’re just having different learning experiences than the ones we currently measure, and the loss is a comparison to a time when we were in a different space.