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Los Angeles County colleges and high schools could be eligible to open in a few days, with LA Unified targeting the reopening of its high school campuses in late April, marking a major turning point in the pandemic that has forced California schools to close for nearly a year. .
However, several sticking points could still cause further delays in the country’s second largest school district, including the time it would take for teachers and school staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the ability of the district and its teachers’ union to reach agreement on school day schedules and working conditions.
On the union front, activity has intensified: negotiators have met almost every day last week and over the weekend – and were also due to meet on Monday. Sources on both sides said a deal appeared to be within reach. And the agreement, they said, would encompass learning and working conditions for the entire duration of the class – from transition kindergarten to grade 12.
A deal would clear up the uncertainties for the rest of the school year and allow the district to present parents with new schedules and interview them about whether they would like to keep their children away.
Parents have expressed varying opinions about the reopening: attendees at one rally called for a slow approach, while those at some other gatherings demanded a resumption of in-person teaching. Communities hardest hit by the pandemic – the areas that are home to most of the district’s students – have been more reluctant to return quickly, according to surveys in LA Unified and other school systems in the region.
A widely followed school reopening tracker ranks California last out of the 50 states for the pace of campus reopens.
Elementary campuses in LA County became eligible for reopening on Feb. 16, but middle and high schools had to wait because older children respond to exposure in a similar way to young adults. In addition, their class schedules generally require more shuffling, said county public health director Barbara Ferrer.
“In elementary schools, it’s really easy to keep people in relatively stable groups,” Ferrer said at a press conference on Monday. “Mixing up with a lot of people is what makes it easier for this virus to spread, and in high schools and colleges it will be a lot harder to deal with.”
High schools are on the verge of getting the green light due to the drop in coronavirus infections and the state relaxing its reopening rules somewhat – to coincide with an increase in the number of vaccinations in areas where the virus was the most prevalent, Ferrer said.
Beutner’s secondary school announcement comes a week after setting a mid-April target for elementary schools, slipping slightly from the original April 9 target. According to county health guidelines, elementary campuses could have opened last month.
But in public statements, Beutner and school board members broadly agreed with United Teachers Los Angeles, which demanded that employees have access to vaccines as well as enough time for maximum immunity to take effect before starting. be forced to return to campus.
“We are making progress on our plans to reopen the schools,” Beutner said on his weekly Monday show. “The target remains mid-April for preschool and elementary school students, as well as students with learning difficulties and disabilities, and the end of April for secondary schools. Our goal is to do this as quickly and as safely as possible. Not at all possible, in the safest way possible. “
Last week, the union leadership reiterated it would oppose a return to campus if it concludes conditions were not safe enough for employees, students and their families. The union also held a referendum in which it called on its members to support its bargaining position.
In a letter to members, union leaders said “no” – against the union’s position – “means that you are prepared to physically return to your school or workplace in unsafe conditions.” In the referendum, 91% of voters said they supported the union’s position.
Union president Cecily Myart-Cruz announced the results on a show with two supportive parents.
Lois Tryk, who has a child at Micheltorena Elementary School in Silver Lake and one at Irving Middle School in Glassell Park, said she trusted teachers to tell him when he was safe enough to return, adding that an additional death from COVID-19 due to a reopened campus is unacceptable.
Alicia Baltazar, who has a child at Fries Elementary School in Wilmington, said she did not agree with the children suffering significant school losses and said she learned other valuable lessons this year, especially the importance of family in their life.
“So our kids aren’t learning what you think they should be learning right now, but they’re making leaps forward in technology,” Baltazar said, referring to the ongoing online schooling. Plus, “they’re learning social ways right now, like learning how to budget because they see their families going through … financial situations at home, due to job losses and things. of the kind.
“They learn to survive by accompanying their parents in these Grab and Go,” she said, referring to the district’s free meal program.
LA Unified is one of the school systems that are reopening much more slowly. Some, including Long Beach, are moving faster because they were able to access vaccines earlier. Others, mainly in richer areas, have started to reopen without vaccines. State and federal guidelines have encouraged schools to open without vaccines for employees, provided that strict safety protocols are followed.
“While other cities in California, like Long Beach, got a head start when local health officials began vaccinating school staff in January, we are working as hard as possible to make up for lost time,” he said. Beutner said.
The district estimated that 25,000 employees would need to be vaccinated to reopen elementary schools. The district is on track to meet that goal, Beutner said.
So far, “35,000 of them have received their first dose of the vaccine, are making an appointment to do so or have decided that they do not want to receive the vaccination at this time,” Beutner said. “The good news is that so far only around 10% of employees have told us they don’t want to get the vaccine right now.”
In his remarks, Beutner also sought to build public confidence that campuses are currently fully prepared to operate safely. His show included a video visit to Panorama High School in Pacoima: “I would bet this is the cleanest school in the country.”
The school chief said the district was doubling cleaning staff, at a cost “of over $ 60 million,” and had already spent more than $ 25 million on personal protective equipment and nearly $ 10 million. dollars to upgrade air filtration systems.
Officials are trying to convince parents and employees that schools will be safe. In many districts of the country, less than half of the students returned when campuses reopened. Under California law, staying away will remain an option for students and parents reluctant to return during the current school year.
Union leaders listed safe operating procedures as another condition for the return of their members.
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