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Dear friends and partners,
This week marks one year since we made the difficult choice to close schools as part of a global effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. It has been a year full of unimaginable loss and overwhelming challenges for our students, families, and school communities. We transitioned nearly overnight to distance learning for more than half a million teachers and students, procured more than 200,000 devices and hotspots to give every student access to virtual classrooms, distributed over 110 million meals and necessities to the kids and families who rely on their school as part of the social safety net. No one could have imagined that a year later our schools would remain closed.
It’s now past time for our kids to start returning to the classroom. COVID cases are finally declining, vaccines are being distributed, and we’ve learned a lot about which precautions help keep kids and staff safe. Yesterday, we reached a tentative agreement with our teachers’ union to begin the recovery process from this crisis by safely reopening schools for in-person instruction in a hybrid model. Unless COVID cases take a dramatic turn for the worse, beginning in mid-April, we will welcome back all elementary students who would like to return to campus for three hours of in-person instruction Monday through Friday. We also are working to ensure that child care is available for families who need it so students can remain on campus beyond that block of time and complete additional learning. Students who would like to remain virtual will be provided with three hours of live virtual instruction. Secondary students will be able to return shortly thereafter, with opportunities for in-person peer interaction, social-emotional learning, and college and career exploration, while continuing with daily live instruction in proximity to peers and a teacher. I recognize this is not ideal, but unfortunately presented the least disruptive solution in order to maintain stable in-person cohorts while preserving individual course loads and schedules this late in the year.
To ensure the health and safety of everyone returning to campus, the District has already invested more than $120 million to upgrade air-filtration systems, procure adequate stocks of PPE and disinfecting supplies, and add extra custodial staff. All students and staff will be tested for COVID-19 prior to their return to campus, and regular COVID testing will be provided thereafter. Masks and social distancing protocols will be in place for students, staff, and visitors at schools, and the District will utilize outdoor learning environments where appropriate to ensure safety.
Just like our transition to distance learning, the process of reopening a district as large and diverse as LA Unified is especially complex, and won’t be perfect. But as we have adapted in the face of new challenges throughout the past year, we will continue to learn and overcome any obstacles that might emerge, because our families are counting on us to do so. This is a big step toward the recovery of our kids and school communities, and I am hopeful that we are approaching that elusive light at the end of the tunnel.
Throughout the past year, the District has worked hard to balance the needs of students with the dangers of the virus and the demands of the teachers union and shifting views across our communities. While the process has been frustrating and sometimes frightening for everyone involved, I remain deeply appreciative of everyone who has fought to keep our kids healthy and learning. I have been fighting to bring them back to the classroom safely and I am very glad that a solution appears to be in reach.
We’re all in this together, apart (for now).
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istrict is committed to working toward gender parity in education, and across all sectors. As we work to empower local schools to meet the unique needs of their families and communities, we are lucky to have talented female leaders like Jennifer Theodore Sullivan, our Westchester CoSA, implementing our new "Community of Schools" models. No one embodies the spirit of this mission like Jennifer, who is a product of LAUSD, attending three of the very same Westchester schools she now oversees. Her mother taught in LAUSD for almost 50 years, which inspired Jennifer to follow the same path, and has been with LAUSD for 28 years. She served as Principal at Paseo del Rey Elementary for 18 of those years before transitioning to the CoSA role. Through the pandemic and beyond, we are grateful for Jennifer's thoughtful leadership and tireless work to make progress for our students and families.
