LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Beginning Wednesday students and staff in the Los Angeles Unified School District will no longer be required to wear face masks while indoors. For the very first time in two years.
The updated guidelines will impact all elementary, secondary, and adult school campuses and all non-school district locations.
"Suffice it to say at this point, that based on improved conditions
in our community and certainly in our school system as a result of the
proactive measures adopted by this board, have led to conditions that have
allowed for the significant relaxation of existing protocols," LAUSD
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Board of Education Tuesday, according to a City News Service report.
"We continue to be guided by science and we are where we are today because of the early adoption of the measures."
For days the school district and United Teachers Los Angeles teachers' union (UTLA) worked to come to an agreement on when the indoor mask mandate should be lifted and what protocols would have to be put in place to do so safely.
Friday both announced that they had come to an agreement allowing LAUSD to remove the mandate and Monday night UTLA announced that 84% of members had voted to approve the deal, according to CNS reported.
Several items are required under the agreement, including an effort by the district to conduct weekly PCR COVID-19 testing of all students and employees through the end of the 2021-2022 school year, according to a document shared by the district.
Masks will continue to be "strongly recommended" while indoors and LAUSD must continue to maintain its supply of face masks so that it can offer either N95 or KN95 masks to any employee who requests them, according to the agreement.
In addition, LAUSD must "provide take-home rapid-antigen tests for all school-based staff and students for baseline testing" ahead of Spring Break 2022 and must maintain it's COVID-19 dashboard.
LAUSD Medical Director Dr. Smita Malhotra, in an interview with CNS, said that because of the district's efforts in the last year to provide access and education on COVID-19 vaccines, "100% of [LAUSD] staff at school sites are vaccinated, and 90% of [LAUSD] students 12 and above are vaccinated."
The agreement between UTLA and the school district will be in place until June 30.
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