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In Hard-Hit LAUSD Neighborhoods, Some Parents Are Reluctant To Send Their Kids Back
L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner leads reporters on a tour through Panorama High School to show off safety preparations made to welcome students back to campus. (Kyle Stokes/KPCC/LAist)
Los Angeles Unified school board members approved a deal with the district’s teachers union that could reopen elementary campuses by April 19, with middle- and high school buildings opening a few weeks after that.
But which parents will send their kids back? Many of the predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods LAUSD serves were among the hardest hit by COVID-19’s winter surge.
Juanita Garcia, whose adopted grandchildren attend San Fernando High School, doesn’t plan on letting them return to campus this spring:
"What we can see from this district and from the union is that our students don’t count. And we don’t either. What really counts for them is the money."
How is LAUSD getting ready for students' arrival? And how are parents weighing the risks?
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