All pieces are in place, including safety measures and vaccine availability. Ted Chen reports March 10, 2021.
What to Know
- The first LAUSD campuses will begin reopening starting the week of April 12.
- The remainder will reopen during the week of April 19. Secondary schools will reopening later in the month.
- The district also announced that vaccinations will be provided at Abraham Lincoln Senior High School in East Los Angeles and George Washington Preparatory Senior High School in South Los Angeles beginning April 5.
Classrooms in the Los Angeles Unified School District will begin reopening the week of April 12 after a year-long closure for the coronavirus pandemic.
LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday the first reopenings on the week of April 12 will include some early education centers, elementary schools and buildings for students with learning differences and disabilities.
The remainder will reopen during the week of April 19. Secondary schools will reopen later in the month.
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Specific dates will be shared by the end of this week, he said.
Once open, elementary students in Los Angeles Unified schools will have the opportunity to attend for the full day, every day, he said. Part of each day will be filled with in-person instruction and part of the day with one- on-one tutoring, recess, lunch and extra-curricular activities.
A similar phased-in reopening approach will be used for middle and high schools.
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The district also announced Monday that vaccinations will be provided at Abraham Lincoln Senior High School in East Los Angeles and George Washington Preparatory Senior High School in South Los Angeles beginning April 5, Beutner said Monday. LAUSD is currently vaccinating Los Angeles Unified employees at seven schools and at Hollywood Park.
“Vaccinating family members will help more kids to return to school as they can return to school without the fear of bringing the virus home,” Beutner said. “This is just a start – our 1,413 schools serve a diverse set of communities spread across more than 700 square miles. We should have dozens more school-based efforts like this to provide the access to vaccinations which are needed in the communities we serve.”
Link: See California's Safe Schools Reopening Map
The reopening developments comes after United Teachers Los Angeles members overwhelmingly approved an agreement on safe return and hybrid instruction. The vote was 89% in favor of the return, UTLA Communications Director Anna Bakalis reported. The vote was conducted from March 18 through March 21 and conducted by Integrity Voting Systems. A total of 20,413 ballots were cast, with 18,127 voting yes. The LAUSD Board of Education unanimously approved the agreement on March 11.
The agreement achieves the three safety criteria endorsed by a previous vote of UTLA members and establishes strict and enforceable safety procedures, which are the highest safety standards in the nation, Bakalis said.
The safety criteria include access to vaccination for school staff, returning only while Los Angeles County remains below the purple tier and enforceable safety conditions and protocols will occur at every school. These include personal protection equipment, stringent social distancing, improved ventilation and a new daily facilities cleaning regimen, Bakalis said.
The CDC's recent shift calling for only 3 feet of physical distance in schools instead of the 6 feet used in the LAUSD will not impact the agreement or any of the other protocols, Bakalis said.
The agreement requires that educators be given access to vaccinations, with time for both shots and the necessary time for full efficacy, Bakalis said. At this point, the district is tentatively planning a mid-April physical return for TK-6 and an end of April/beginning of May physical return for grades 7 through 12.
