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.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Some LAUSD Students May Not Be Allowed To View The Eclipse
School children use special glasses to look into the sky at a partial solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
()
For students throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, Monday's partial solar eclipse is an event that has never happened before in their lifetimes (and won't happen again until 2024). Yet, a letter sent Thursday from LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King is recommending some students stay indoors for the eclipse.
"While a solar eclipse can be a phenomenal viewing experience, it can also cause permanent eye damage unless special eyewear is used," the letter reads. "We recommend that students who are not participating in an approved activity remain indoors from 9 a.m. to noon."
According to KPCC, schools throughout the school district have ordered NASA-approved eclipse glasses (specially polarized to prevent eye damage while staring directly at the sun), for the viewing. Yet, not all of the district's 514,000 students have been provided glasses. In addition, students must also have a signed waiver to participate in any eclipse viewing event.
"It's primarily a mechanism to let parents know that this is happening," David Holmquist, general counsel for LAUSD, told KPCC of the parental-approval waivers. "And we need them to be informed that their students either can or cannot participate in the events."
Support for LAist comes from
As the Los Angeles Times notes, a second letter from Superintendent King was sent out Friday, in response to criticisms over restricting students' viewing, recommending teachers build pinhole cameras as an alternate way for children to safely view the eclipse.
“...I don’t want children going blind because they’re not supervised and exercising proper precaution,” Diane Pappas, chief executive of district operations, told the Times.
For those student remaining indoors during this rare cosmic event, LAUSD has linked to a live feed of the eclipse on its website (viewable here, by the way)—an option many of us adults staying in offices indoors for the eclipse will be using.
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
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist