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A Deal Aims To Reopen LAUSD Campuses By April. Here’s What You Need To Know
School zone traffic signs near Mariposa-Nabi Primary School in Koreatown. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
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We told you last night that a deal was close to bringing Los Angeles Unified students back to their school campuses, potentially as early as next month.
Today, we finally got a look at the details of the agreement between LAUSD officials and United Teachers Los Angeles — and we also know a little about what’s not in the deal. Some highlights:
WHAT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WILL BE LIKE
When LAUSD elementary school campuses reopen — the district’s hoping this happens by April 19 — most students will spend half the day with their teachers in hybrid, in-person instruction: either three hours in the morning, or three hours in the afternoon.
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At a press conference Wednesday, Superintendent Austin Beutner confirmed that elementary schools will have adults on campus to provide activities for students if they must remain on campus for the full day.
The agreement calls for classroom cleanings in the hour between the morning and afternoon cohorts of students.
WHAT MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL WILL BE LIKE
Middle- and high schoolers will report to school every other day. While these older students will stay on campus for a full six-hour day, they won’t be moving between classes like in a normal middle or high school.
Students will spend most of their day in the classroom of their advisory teacher — what we used to call “homeroom” teacher — but still attending classes via Zoom.
The plan is already raising eyebrows and eliciting mixed reactions from parents and students. But Beutner said the difficulties of redoing a middle- or high school’s master schedule while also following health guidelines proved too much to overcome:
BEUTNER: …and we can't keep kids in "stable cohorts" as guidance requires -AND- allow students to freely pass between classes -AND- redo a middle- or high school's master.
— Kyle Stokes (@kystokes) March 10, 2021
"You play the COVID cards you're dealt."
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If you want to see how the day will break down, hour-by-hour, find the schedules in the agreement here.
WHAT’S NOT IN THE DEAL
UTLA’s chief negotiator, Arlene Inouye, confirmed this agreement does not cover what the return to class will look like for special education students.
She said the bargaining teams wanted to set a “baseline” for what the return to campuses will look like for non-special education students before setting terms for the roughly 13% of LAUSD students with identified special needsan identified disability.
Inouye was confident that an agreement will be in place well before students return.
MORE ABOUT THE SAFETY STANDARDS AND CLEANING REGIMEN
These will include the vaccination of all school staff "to the best of the District's ability," and COVID-19 testing for students and staff returning to class. Other requirements will include physical distancing and masks, and daily disinfecting of classrooms, bathrooms and workspaces. More details here.
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