WALNUT CREEK — When they prepared for marriage a decade ago, Cheryl Dumesnil and Tracie Vickers contemplated living in San Francisco, where other gay and lesbian families would surround them, or venturing back to the suburbs where they grew up.

Their choice of central Contra Costa County made them pioneers, the first two-mom family in their leafy Walnut Creek neighborhood.

“This is Tracie’s suburban dream,” Dumesnil said inside their ranch house Tuesday, as the couple’s 6-year-old son, Brennan, quietly read a book and 4-year-old Kian marched through the kitchen, a singing troubadour strumming a white guitar. Neighbors have welcomed this family with cookies and open arms.

“So after saying I would never move back to the suburbs, here I am,” Dumesnil said.

The family of four is among nearly 1 percent of California households — about 126,000 homes — headed by same-sex couples, according to statistics from the 2010 census being released Thursday. The numbers, if they are accurate, show nearly a quarter of California’s same-sex couples are raising children.

While San Francisco remains a gay hub — the city has more than 10,000 gay and lesbian couples, compared to fewer than 300 in Walnut Creek — the census found same-sex couples in every corner of the state, and revealed that those who live in many suburban and rural areas are far more likely to have kids.

“We’re not just some special interest group concentrated in major urban centers,” Dumesnil said. “We’re actually everywhere, and just trying to live a legally protected and fulfilling life.”

Fifteen years after the federal Defense of Marriage Act banned gay marriage and seven years after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom defiantly ordered that licenses be granted to same-sex couples, gay and lesbian families remain in the political cross hairs but also say that society is increasingly adjusting to having them — and their children — around. In turn, whether or not they were counted before, more same-sex couples are conscious about identifying themselves on census forms.

Demographers caution that the numbers may overcount same-sex couples because of opposite-sex couples who miscoded themselves on a confusing form. The errors are amplified because there are far more opposite-sex couples than same-sex couples.

Gay and lesbian couples are identified in the census when the head of a household reports living with a “husband/wife” or an “unmarried partner” of the same sex. Changes in the way the Census Bureau counts same-sex couples make it hard to accurately compare to the 2000 census, when the tally found more than 92,000 same-sex couples in California.
It is clear, however, that the number of openly same-sex couples statewide has grown substantially in the last decade.

“We do have evidence that over time, increasing numbers of people are willing to report (same-sex partnerships),” said demographer Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law. “We’ve seen those increases being the largest outside the known gay areas. I’d expect you’d see those increases larger in the Central Valley than in San Francisco.”

Same-sex couples in the suburbs and rural areas also are far more likely than their urban counterparts to be raising children. National studies show that about 19 percent of the children of same-sex couples are adopted, Gates said. Many more are children from previous heterosexual relationships.

“That kind of pattern is much more common in conservative areas where people come out later in life,” Gates said. “The further you get away from San Francisco, the larger proportion of same-sex couples are raising kids.”

For some same-sex couples, living in the outer regions of the Bay Area still seems like being on a cultural frontier.

The census counted 138 gay male couples in Antioch last year, and found that 30 percent of them have kids. However, partners Joe Horacek and Jonathan Lee know just one other family like them living on the other side of town.

The family moved to Antioch from South San Francisco in 2004 because they wanted a bigger, more affordable house to raise their three adopted children. Horacek and Lee were among about 18,000 same-sex couples who married during six months in 2008 when gay marriage was legal in the state before voters passed Proposition 8. Living in Antioch was easier when the kids were young; their oldest children, 14 and 13, are now struggling to fit in to a community where two dads are a rarity.

“My son has encountered some negative reactions from kids on Facebook,” said Horacek, a local teacher. “We don’t want to be the ones who put the targets on their back. All kids get picked on for something, but usually it has to do with them. We’re adding this extra liability for them fitting in.”

Hosts who greet the family of five at local restaurants sometimes mistake them for two separate parties. Since their 9-year-old daughter has no mom, a principal recently asked if she could play the role for a Mother’s Day tea. Usually, a polite conversation smooths an adult’s confusion, but the couple sometimes wonders if life would be easier for their kids on the other side of the East Bay hills.

“For the most part, no one has questioned us or given us any problems, but there are more assumptions out here that the kids have both a mom and a dad,” Horacek said. “I know that in places like Berkeley and Alameda County, in particular, conversations about different kinds of families and same-sex relationships are part of the school curriculum. Out here, it’s not necessarily the case.”

Three percent of San Francisco households and slightly more than 2 percent of Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville households are headed by same-sex couples, making these the Bay Area cities with the highest concentration of gay and lesbian partners. Other East Bay cities run close behind, and most of the neighborhoods outside San Francisco with the highest number of same-sex couples, according to the census, stretch along the foothills of East Oakland.

East Bay same-sex couples also are more likely to have kids than their San Francisco counterparts, though the same is also true for straight couples. A little more than 4 percent of San Francisco’s gay male couples and 19 percent of its lesbian couples have kids, compared to 11 percent of gay male couples and 22 percent of lesbian couples in Oakland.

Maya Scott-Chung and her multiracial family also chose the East Bay because she found it more diverse.

“It wasn’t just because we could afford to buy a house here, though that was a part of it,” said Scott-Chung, who lives with her transgender partner and their daughter in Oakland’s San Antonio district. “It matters to us to live in Oakland because it’s one of the most culturally, linguistically and economically diverse places in the Bay Area and probably in the world. There’s a huge number of lesbian and two-mom families here.”

Statewide, lesbian partners are also more likely than gay males to be raising children — 32 percent of lesbian households have kids, compared to 17.8 percent of gay male couples. Horacek said that being a minority among minorities in a place like Antioch can be exciting and a little frightening.

“Obviously gay people have been in relationships for centuries, but this seems to be the first generation where it’s happening in numbers, especially adding kids to the family,” he said. “We sometimes feel like we’re soldiers on the front line. Change is afoot, but still, it’s not mainstream here.”

Dumesnil said she and her wife have witnessed perceptions slowly change in Walnut Creek as they interact with straight families at school functions and in their neighborhood.

“Somebody’s got to be out here,” she said. “In a way, having the kids was the great equalizer.”

Bay Area Cities with
the highest percentage
of same-sex couples

Guerneville: 7.6 percent of all households headed by same-sex couples (176 same-sex couples)
San Francisco: 3 percent (10,384)
Oakland: 2.2 percent (3,442)
Emeryville: 2.1 percent (119)
Berkeley: 2.1 percent (961)
El Cerrito: 1.9 percent (189)
Pacifica: 1.7 percent (237)
Albany: 1.7 percent (123)
Alameda: 1.5 percent (459)
San Rafael: 1.3 percent (301)
Vallejo: 1.2 percent (497)
Santa Rosa: 1.2 percent (757)
Richmond: 1.2 percent (427)
Concord: 1.2 percent (512)
Pleasant Hill: 1.1 percent (152)
San Leandro: 1.1 percent (326)

statewide figures on households

49%
Households headed by
husband-wife married couples

6.2%
Households headed by opposite-sex unmarried partners
1%
Households headed by
same-sex partners

43.4%
Resident doesn’t live with
a spouse or unmarried partner

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The San Francisco Board of Education is set to unveil in October a plan to increase literacy rates, math achievement and college and career readiness.

But there is an obstacle to achieving the new goals. More than 25% of San Francisco Unified School District’s students were chronically absent in 2021-2022, the first full year of in-person learning since the pandemic began.

Although SFUSD is not alone in this phenomenon — 72% of public schools saw an increase in chronic absenteeism for both students and teachers during the 2021-22 school year — the district’s twofold rise to 24.8% is well above the national average of 17%.

“We know the past few years navigating the impacts of the pandemic have been incredibly difficult for students and families,” said Jenny Lam, president of the San Francisco Board of Education. “Students missing significant time from school is an alarm — we need to understand the factors and how to provide students with supports and receive the care they need to learn and succeed.”

Data from SFUSD Research, Planning and Assessment Department

A student is deemed chronically absent if they miss more than 10% — or 18 days — of the school year, excused or otherwise.

The term was coined in 2010 by education consultant Hedy Chang who found students who are chronically absent in kindergarten are less likely to read at grade level by third grade, less likely to succeed academically in middle school and more likely to drop out in high school. Soon thereafter, she founded Attendance Works, a San Francisco-based nonprofit focused on improving attendance practices and policy at all levels of governance.

In San Francisco public schools, one of the greatest increases can be seen among transitional kindergarten students, 50% of whom were chronically absent last academic year as opposed to 20% in 2020-2021 — perhaps because students under 5 were not eligible to be vaccinated until this past June.

The other large increase occurred among the two-thirds of African American, Pacific Islander and foster students and half of Latino students who were chronically absent in 2021-22. This is a significant increase from 2020-21, the year most disrupted by the pandemic — when 45% of African American students, 47% of Pacific Islander students, 46% of foster students and 25% of Latino students were chronically absent.

Even prior to the pandemic, however, students in these ethnic groups saw higher levels of chronic absenteeism in San Francisco and across the nation, according to educational researchers.

“A lot of the things that we know are causes or at least strongly associated with chronic absenteeism are disproportionately unfortunately present for students of color,” said Ethan Hutt, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education. “When we talk about schools that have a high prevalence of chronic absenteeism, we want to disentangle things that are within their control and things that are not within their control.”

The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on historically underserved communities exacerbated those factors, said Cecelia Leong, vice president of programs at Attendance Works.

She pointed to a Wayne State study chronicling Detroit families’ experiences with COVID-19 and school attendance that found that students whose families faced greater economic hardship during the pandemic were more likely to be chronically absent.

“There were significant socioeconomic differences between moderately and severely chronically absent students, reinforcing that reducing chronic absenteeism will require social and economic supports beyond what schools alone can provide,” the study read.

The impacts of absenteeism

According to Hutt, whose research at UNC focuses on the metrics used to quantify school performance, the single oldest measure is attendance. He noted that although the quality of a school used to be determined by its average daily attendance — or percent of enrolled students who came to school on a daily basis — the reality is that taking attendance has long been an ambiguous metric.

“School districts almost immediately realized that these numbers are easily manipulated,” Hutt said. “It’s very hard to verify who is in the building and so districts will engage in all kinds of shenanigans to make their numbers look good.”

If students missed consecutive days, for example, districts would drop students and re-enroll them when they returned so as not to count their absence in the final metric.

This went on as recently as 2017, when a Washington, DC, high school graduated all of its seniors despite a majority missing more than six weeks of school. Some couldn’t even read or write.

Michael Gottfried — a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education — found that chronic absence has four distinct impacts on students, their classmates and their school.

The first is on school finances, given that California schools receive funding from the state based on how many students show up each day.

Similarly to Chang, Gottfried found that chronic absenteeism impacts both literacy and math achievement in a negative way. However, absences tend to impact math more than reading because while parents will read to their children at home, they don’t feel as equipped to teach math.

Chronic absence was also found to impact child development; those who are absent often are less engaged in the classroom and don’t want to be there, prompting further absence and a reinforcing cycle.

Lastly, Gottfried found that classmates are impacted as well. For example, if a student has missed a few days of school, the teacher may slow down to catch them up, affecting the learning of the rest of the class. In contrast, if the teacher doesn’t slow down, the student may be confused and disengage from the lesson. Either way, learning is altered.

Pandemic-imposed absenteeism

In studying factors that contribute to absenteeism, Gottfried established four distinct drivers: routines, transitions, engagement and health. Seeing twofold increases in chronic absenteeism post-pandemic, Gottfried said the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have disrupted all four drivers.

Routines are all about practice, Gottfried said, and while many are out of practice, there are kindergarten through third graders who have never practiced going to school before. Likewise, many made the transition from elementary to middle school or middle to high school online.

“Middle schoolers have missed this entire huge developmental piece of growth of preadolescent development,” Gottfried said. “They haven’t been able to have those moments in school that are super engaging, either making those connections with teachers or curriculum or with peers.”

Aside from the obstacles students face at school, some may not even want to go back due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, something that Leong at Attendance Works said schools need to address.

“There’s been so much trauma and anxiety and stress from the pandemic that part of the normal transition almost has to be augmented, so that you’re really addressing some of the anxiety and fear of leaving home or being exposed to COVID,” Leong said .

SFUSD’s approach

In addition to an ongoing joint research project examining chronic absenteeism at SFUSD with UC Berkeley, San Francisco’s public school district offers wraparound services to assist student attendance, said SFUSD public relations manager Laura Dudnick.

Once a student incurs six unexcused absences, school-based coordinated care teams are supposed to reach out to the family and schedule a meeting. Based on that meeting, support plans are created, Dudnick said. When a family cannot be reached, the issue is referred to the district-level Coordinated Care Team for Truancy, which tries to find other ways to support the family.

Individual schools also have their own methods of promoting attendance. In fact, most of Independence High School’s students enroll because they have struggled with chronic absenteeism.

True to its name, Independence provides an independent study program in which students create their own schedules and attend small classes with up to 15 students. The school also has a special education program for students with moderate to severe anxiety, depression, school phobia and school avoidance.

“Some of the kids we haven’t gotten stepped foot in their school for six months or more,” said Principal Anna Klafter. “We start from a really hard place with some of our kids and we work to get them through school, but also to get them to a place where they can be successful after school and find something that’s meaningful for them.”

Independence hired an extra social worker to focus on chronically absent students who may be involved in the juvenile justice system, foster care, are between homes or are dealing with other situations that impede school attendance.

“The addition of this position … has really turned around outcomes for our Tier 3 students,” Klafter said. “She’s able to case manage 25 kids and really be their go-to person for everything from academics and school supplies to food and housing and family needs, and has just been a real lifeline for students and families.”

Since the start of the program in 2019 and the additional social worker in 2020, graduation rates at Independence have increased from 54% to 91%, according to Klafter.

Though these solutions are specific to Independence High School, Gottfried and Hutt said research shows that when high school students are taught by a teacher of the same ethnicity, attendance rates tend to increase. Serving breakfast in the classroom and placing students with disabilities in general rather than special education classrooms has also proven to increase attendance.

Hutt added that parent communication about the impacts of absenteeism can serve as a further solution.

“It doesn’t matter if we talk about new standards or higher quality teachers. If the students aren’t there to receive the benefits of what’s going on in the schools, then why even talk about anything else,” Gottfried said. “It’s almost like absenteeism/attendance is the first step in trying to create educational opportunities.”

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April 26, 2022

Payment processing giant Visa’s profits rose 21% in the first three months of the year fueled by a large jump in spending on the company’s namesake credit and debit card network.

The San Francisco-based company reported Tuesday that it earned $3.65 billion, or $1.70 a share, in its fiscal second quarter that ended March 31. That was up from $3.03 billion, or $1.38 a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Its earnings adjusted to exclude one-time items amounted to $1.79 a share. The results topped the expectations of analysts who were looking for Visa to earn $1.65 a share on an adjusted basis, according to FactSet.

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From an eerie ghost town to a bustling city that is recovering.

“It was a ghost town around this time last year,” said real estate agent Neil Canlas. “You could see the tumbleweeds on the streets of San Francisco.”

RELATED: San Francisco Got A Ghost Town? The city really is that empty

But this year the city is starting to come alive again – one indicator is the rental market.

“Rents have been on the market for a long time during the pandemic. At least a month or two, now they’re going off in a week or two,” Canlas said.

Canlas says only 25 rental listings were closed on the MLS last July. While 188 rental offers were closed in the last three months.

“People are coming back and they need a place to live,” he said.

VIDEO: Golden State’s real estate market is one of the hottest ever

When people come back, prices come back too. The Canlas brothers say the average total rent for two bedrooms and two baths has increased by as much as 20 percent. But that is all different depending on the location. ABC7’s analysis of data on MLS closed leases from the second quarter of this year shows that the largest spike in condominium rentals was in Mission Bay, South Beach, the Financial District and parts of Polk Gulch.

Stephanie: “What is the current average rental price for a two-bedroom house in Polk Gulch?”

Daryll Canlas: “The average is between $ 2,500 and $ 3,000.”

Stephanie: “What was two quarters ago?”

Daryll Canlas: “About 10 to 20 percent off, probably $ 2,000 to $ 2,800.”
The increased demand is also affecting the city’s commercial real estate.

“People are moving back to town,” said Robert Sammons, senior researcher at commercial real estate company Cushman and Wakefield. “That’s a great sign for our economy.”

RELATED: The Bay Area County, where home sales have skyrocketed from the pandemic

“We close the second quarter today and will close with 7,000 square feet of new leasing activity,” said Sammons. “This is the best since the first quarter of 2020.”

Signs of progress, but much remains to be done. 20 percent of the city’s commercial real estate is vacant – the highest figure in two decades.

“It will take time, maybe 2022, for us to fully recover,” said Sammons. “But we’re making progress and that’s a great sign.”

According to Cushman and Wakefield, 70 percent of the 140 large corporations primarily based in San Francisco said they will be returning to the office in some capacity by July 1 percent by year-end. 22 percent of this group said they worked from home indefinitely.

Copyright © 2021 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

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See’s Candies from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A), the 100-year-old maker and seller of chocolates, lollipops, toffee and Warren Buffett’s favorite treat – peanut brittle – had the best quarter ever in 2021 earlier in the year, according to CEO Pat Egan.

“We are fully back, I think. We had our best January ever, our best February ever, we just finished our best first quarter ever, ”Egan told Yahoo Finance ahead of Berkshire Hathaway’s 2021 annual meeting, streaming exclusively on Yahoo Finance.

Egan, who took the helm of See’s Candies in the spring of 2019 and is the third CEO in the company’s history, described the past year as “the longest decade” of his life, when the famous candy retailer survived the COVID-19 crisis.

Full coverage of Berkshire Hathaway 2021 2021 Annual General Meeting

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States last March, See closed all of its 245 stores in a matter of days, and shortly after closed its e-commerce fulfillment center in southern California.

“From that point on, we just said, ‘We’re not going to reopen any stores or our factories until we can create a safe operating environment for all of our employees.’ That took a while and when we restored at the end of summer we saw customers come back. But it was pretty tough for that time, “added Egan.

PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 25, 2019: A man pushing a stroller stops outside a See’s Candies shop in Palm Springs, California. Founded in Los Angeles in 1921, the company is now headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company has been owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corporation since 1972. (Photo by Robert Alexander / Getty Images)

Amid pandemic bans and stay-at-home orders, See’s Candies’ e-commerce business grew by about 70% in total packages shipped last year. In addition, online sales have remained robust even with reopenings.

“”[What] you might expect that when the stores open again [e-commerce] would wear off a little. It has not. In our first quarter, we were up nearly 160% from the first quarter of last year. ”

Egan noted that in-store traffic was gradually decreasing, but the company was “almost back to 100%”.

The story goes on

“But our e-commerce, which has more than doubled, has actually stayed at that level, and we are okay with it not coming back to earth. It presents some other operational challenges, but we have definitely expanded our customer base. ”Egan added.

Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her up Twitter.

Read more from the Daily Journal Meeting:

Berkshire Hathaway rerun

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