Distance learning in basic and upper secondary schools in the Czech Republic 21/22 The school does not have its own ICT coordinator. The founder of the school provided an ICT expert. The school received assistance from the Information Technology Administration of the City of Plzeň, which offered training in the field of online skills. Significantly positive cooperation of the school with the founder who provided technical support for online teaching by an expert from among the employees of the municipality. As mentioned above, in some cases, pupils do not have digital technology or any internet connection at home. Even in these cases, the founders often helped. Other partners in the municipalities also took part in supporting education, such as volunteer firefighters, shops where it was possible to leave materials for pupils and their parents, or local entrepreneurs. In cooperation with the founder, the school provided one socially very weak family with free internet access. Cooperation with the founder who prints educational materials for pupils who do not have a possibility to do so. A school laptop was lent to a pupil with the third level of support measures. Connectivity was provided by the municipality. The materials are delivered by an authorized employee of the founder. With the help of the founder, MS Office 365 licenses were purchased for all students and teachers. In the times of crisis, the quality of communication between school, parents and, of course, the founder is even more evident than ever. The Czech School Inspectorate has been pointing out the importance of communication in its outputs, with 40% of complaints the Czech School Inspectorate receives each school year being due to shortcomings in the area of communication. 10 Conclusions and recommendations Within their capabilities, a large proportion of schools have successfully dealt with the rapid transition to the distance form of education and did their best to ensure the educational process effectively even in extraordinary conditions. Schools and their leaders were for the most part aware of what needs to be done to educate pupils effectively (feedback from pupils, communication without obstacles, adequacy of the scope and complexity of education, etc.), and, to a large extent, strove to provide that. The competence of school principals in pedagogical leadership, the use of digital technologies, streamlining of educational content, ensuring communication and support for school teachers were considered as absolutely necessary and essential in coordinating distance learning. However, the extent of pedagogical leadership in individual schools varied greatly. The implementation of distance learning has deepened the differences between the Czech regions. The fundamental differences in the level of school management, in the approaches to teaching and in the conditions for distance education that pupils have in the individual regions have become much more significant.