United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District reached a tentative agreement for a full reopening of schools on Thursday evening.
Masks and coronavirus tests will remain for the 2021-2022 school year, but students and teachers will be back in classrooms full-time. Currently, the second-largest school district in the country is using a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning. After reopening, students and staff will be required to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status.
In addition to masks, there will be daily health screens such as a temperature check and coronavirus testing at least twice a week.
“The agreement maintains the necessary COVID-19 protocols that have proven to keep students, staff, families, and the education community safe,” said a statement by UTLA.
LAUSD schools have been slow to reopen, with parents’ groups protesting the continued use of digital teaching. Educators and district officials expressed cautious optimism about the reopening. They also indicated a willingness to change course depending on transmission rates.
In early June, Superintendent Austen Beutner was hesitant to guarantee in-person teaching for the new school year, saying, “August is still three months away, and we can’t predict what standards health officials will tell us are appropriate at that time.”
“As we close out this year, we mourn those we have lost, we uplift the lessons we have learned, and we turn the page forward to in-person learning communities, five days a week for the 2021-2022 school year, unless conditions worsen,” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz.
District officials and teachers point to the zero reported cases of transmission of the virus at schools as proof that their cautiousness paid off.
The tentative agreement also includes the presence of a COVID-19 Compliance Task Force at every school as well as strict cleaning and disinfecting guidelines. Union members will need to ratify the agreement, which would come into effect June 23.