COVID-19 and Schools

The CIF Southern Section delivered some devastating news to high school student-athletes on Tuesday, announcing that playoffs and championships were cancelled for fall sports as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday he has asked state and county health officials to allow the district to provide COVID-19 vaccinations at schools to expedite administration of the shots and speed a return to in-person classes.

The University of California announced Monday that it is planning for a return to primarily in-person instruction systemwide starting fall 2021.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials and labor leaders are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to beef up his proposed "Safe Schools for All" reopening plan to reflect the disproportionate impact months of COVID-19-related distance learning has had on students in low-income communities.

Critics say the plan’s funding is not sufficient to ensure safety in California classrooms, as COVID-19 case rates and deaths skyrocket, and it risks deepening the inequities that the pandemic has already laid bare.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a $2-billion package of financial incentives to encourage a return to in-person classroom instruction for California elementary school students as early as mid-February.

“Some of the teachers have seen it a little bit on the screen, but they're not experiencing what we're experiencing at home, with their frustration, the crying, the tears."

Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will remain off-limits to students when the new semester begins in January due to the continued community surge of COVID-19, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday.

With Los Angeles Unified campuses remaining largely closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district and its teachers union have extended their labor agreement governing distance learning, with the pact including additional office hours and up to 30 more minutes of instruction time on Mondays.

Teachers in Huntington Beach are being ordered to return to class next month.

City officials in Rancho Palos Verdes sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles County last week, requesting that schools be permitted to reopen for in-person classes beginning in January.

The nation’s second-largest school district said it wants to avoid penalizing students who may be struggling during the public health emergency.

Los Angeles Unified School District campuses would be an ideal setting for administering COVID-19 vaccines to students and their families, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday, while again imploring elected officials to provide financial support for schools to prepare for an eventual return to in-person instruction.

With online connectivity more important than ever, the city of Long Beach announced a new internet service and computing device program to help low-income residents connect to free digital inclusion resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Roads School in Santa Monica, a private college preparatory school, is holding a series of discussions with its students, staff, parents, and the community about race and systemic racism.