The Los Angeles Unified School District is aiming to reopen middle and high schools in late April under a timetable announced Monday by Supt. Austin Beutner. Under L.A. County health rules, local secondary schools could be eligible to open as soon as next week.
Several sticking points, however, could affect the plans, including the time it would take to get teachers and school staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the ability of the district and its teachers union to reach an agreement about school day schedules and working conditions.
Elementary schools are targeted to open in mid-April. Under county health guidelines, they could have opened last month. But in public statements, Beutner and school board members have largely been in agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles, which has demanded that employees receive access to vaccines as well as enough time for maximum immunity to take effect before being required to return to campus.
“We’re making progress in our plans to reopen schools,” Beutner said in remarks prepared for his weekly Monday broadcast. “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 soon as possible and in the safest way possible. Not in any way possible, the safest way possible.”
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