The Los Angeles Unified District is scrambling for contingency plans as tens of thousands of workers are getting ready to walk off the job, forcing all schools to temporarily shut down, starting on Tuesday.
While Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said during a news conference Wednesday that he was “optimistic” that the district would be able to reach a resolution, SEIU Local 99, which represents about 30,000 workers including bus drivers, custodians, and other food service workers, said the strike was necessary to send the message.
“Enough with the disrespect,” Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said during a rally Wednesday. “As LAUSD parents and workers, we know a strike would be a sacrifice. But we also know that our families have been sacrificing for too long on poverty wages.”
More than 35,000 LAUSD teachers, represented by UTLA, a teachers union, are also planning to join the three-day strike in solidarity.
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While making the last-ditch attempt to avert the strike, the district appears to be preparing to help families during the three days when schools are closed. Here's what to know.
Education
The district has prepared educational, instructional packets for all students, including those with special needs and English-language learners, according to Carvalho. Assistance packets for parents are also ready to be distributed, the superintendent said.
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Food
While schools are shut down, LAUSD students, many of whom come from households at or below the poverty level, would still be able to access free, healthy meals. The district is finalizing plans in partnership with community organizations to distribute food. But the service will not be available at all school sites, according to Carvalho. The current plan is that food pick-ups would be made possible at about 60 locations across LA. The food would be from the LAUSD’s warehouses, so the district would have to team up with other organizations to facilitate the distribution.
Child Care
The LAUSD welcomes partnership with entities to provide a form of child care or “supervised monitored care” for students whose parents do not have an option of working from home or finding alternative child care options.
Details about possible options were not immediately available.
While the district is set to have another bargaining session with the teachers union Friday, the union for non-teaching staff has not agreed to a date for the next negotiation, according to Carvalho.
