Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

Education

All LAUSD Staff Will Be Required To Be Vaccinated By October 15

Desks spaced six feet apart in a classroom at Panorama High School in the L.A. Unified School District. The nation's second-largest school system hopes to welcome back middle- and high schoolers to campuses in late April.
Vaccines will now be required for all LAUSD staff without an option to opt out through weekly testing.
(
Kyle Stokes
/
LAist
)

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that all staff will be required to get vaccinated by October 15.

This follows orders from Governor Gavin Newsom mandating vaccines or weekly testing for all staff at California's public schools.

The LAUSD mandate goes a step further, making vaccination a "condition of continued employment/service," meaning staff cannot opt out of vaccination by taking a weekly test.

Support for LAist comes from

If an employee desires a religious or medical exemption, LAUSD said they "will still engage in an interactive process to determine if a reasonable accommodation exists."

Weekly testing will still occur for all employees, according to the district, regardless of vaccine status.

United Teachers of Los Angeles, the union that represents LAUSD educators, voted overwhelmingly in support of the vaccine mandate.

“Because of the protocols that UTLA educators and LAUSD families fought for and won, L.A. Unified has among the strictest COVID safety protocols in the country. But this Delta variant is unlike anything we have seen so far in this crisis — especially its impact on children — and we all need to step up to do our part to protect the most vulnerable among us,” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz in a press release.

This comes on the heels of rising positive COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant and a return to in-person school for LAUSD students on August 16.

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist