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Important Return to School Announcement - July 13, 2020
Dear Parents and Staff,
Superintendent Austin Beutner just released the information on his regular Monday announcement. The school year will begin on August 18, 2020; however, students will not return to the campus facilities.
You can watch the video update from Superintendent Beutner here: https://achieve.lausd.net/latestnews
And here is the full transcript of the update.
Kevin Kassebaum
Superintendent Austin Beutner just released the information on his regular Monday announcement. The school year will begin on August 18, 2020; however, students will not return to the campus facilities.
You can watch the video update from Superintendent Beutner here: https://achieve.lausd.net/latestnews
And here is the full transcript of the update.
Kevin Kassebaum
Board member Fall update for LAUSD parents - July 13, 2020
Hello parents and guardians,
I hope you are staying healthy and safe during this break—and still able to enjoy some socially distant summer activities! In my last email before the break, I said I would keep you updated with any news about the Fall. As you may have seen, the Superintendent announced this morning that all school will remain online when we start on August 18th . Because of the dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks and the slow progress from state and federal entities on a global system of testing and contact tracing strategies, we simply cannot risk the health and safety of our students, families, and school communities. On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed course and said it was no longer confident that opening schools in the middle of a public health crisis is the best option for children. You can hear more from the Superintendent’s announcement about what it will take to reopen schools here.
I know we all hoped to be in a very different place with the virus and able to return to the classroom by this point. This news is likely not a huge surprise, but extremely disappointing nonetheless. More detailed information about both online and at-school programs will be shared in the coming weeks with final plans by the first week in August. While the school year will begin without students at school facilities, our goal is to welcome students back to school as soon as it is safe and appropriate for us to do so, and I remain hopeful that will be sometime during the fall semester.
However, just because online learning will continue doesn’t mean that your child’s school day will look the same as the end of last year. Since the school year ended in June, the LAUSD Board has met six times to conduct District business—including discussing reopening plans and hearing from the public. I have continued to advocate for more rigorous, and equitable, instruction while online learning continues. The Superintendent announced this morning these plans will include a regular schedule with standards-based instruction, including daily, live engagement between teachers and students. Regular assessments of student progress will be used by teachers to guide their work with students and keep families informed. Where possible, schools will add instruction and one-on-one tutoring after school and on Saturday mornings to help students make up for lost time and accelerate their progress. Our mental health and support services will also continue, and our Grab and Go meal centers will keep running as long as needed.
The fact remains that countries which have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing available. We currently have neither. As the virus has accelerated its attacks on our communities, our leaders owe it to all of those impacted by the COVID-19 closures to increase their efforts to slow the spread of the virus. And if the federal government wants to demand that schools reopen, then they must provide districts with the resources we need to reopen in a responsible manner. We will continue to work closely with county and State public health officials to reopen campuses as soon as health conditions allow, with the proper protocols and safeguards in place and to advocate for support from these entities to create the conditions necessarily to return. Until then, I promise to keep you informed of any relevant updates and keep pushing to ensure students and families are at the center of our decision-making.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. We’re all in this together, apart.
Best,
Nick
--
Nick Melvoin
LA Unified Board of Education
Board Member | District 4
Find school closure resources, updates, and more info here
I hope you are staying healthy and safe during this break—and still able to enjoy some socially distant summer activities! In my last email before the break, I said I would keep you updated with any news about the Fall. As you may have seen, the Superintendent announced this morning that all school will remain online when we start on August 18th . Because of the dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks and the slow progress from state and federal entities on a global system of testing and contact tracing strategies, we simply cannot risk the health and safety of our students, families, and school communities. On Friday, the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed course and said it was no longer confident that opening schools in the middle of a public health crisis is the best option for children. You can hear more from the Superintendent’s announcement about what it will take to reopen schools here.
I know we all hoped to be in a very different place with the virus and able to return to the classroom by this point. This news is likely not a huge surprise, but extremely disappointing nonetheless. More detailed information about both online and at-school programs will be shared in the coming weeks with final plans by the first week in August. While the school year will begin without students at school facilities, our goal is to welcome students back to school as soon as it is safe and appropriate for us to do so, and I remain hopeful that will be sometime during the fall semester.
However, just because online learning will continue doesn’t mean that your child’s school day will look the same as the end of last year. Since the school year ended in June, the LAUSD Board has met six times to conduct District business—including discussing reopening plans and hearing from the public. I have continued to advocate for more rigorous, and equitable, instruction while online learning continues. The Superintendent announced this morning these plans will include a regular schedule with standards-based instruction, including daily, live engagement between teachers and students. Regular assessments of student progress will be used by teachers to guide their work with students and keep families informed. Where possible, schools will add instruction and one-on-one tutoring after school and on Saturday mornings to help students make up for lost time and accelerate their progress. Our mental health and support services will also continue, and our Grab and Go meal centers will keep running as long as needed.
The fact remains that countries which have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing available. We currently have neither. As the virus has accelerated its attacks on our communities, our leaders owe it to all of those impacted by the COVID-19 closures to increase their efforts to slow the spread of the virus. And if the federal government wants to demand that schools reopen, then they must provide districts with the resources we need to reopen in a responsible manner. We will continue to work closely with county and State public health officials to reopen campuses as soon as health conditions allow, with the proper protocols and safeguards in place and to advocate for support from these entities to create the conditions necessarily to return. Until then, I promise to keep you informed of any relevant updates and keep pushing to ensure students and families are at the center of our decision-making.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. We’re all in this together, apart.
Best,
Nick
--
Nick Melvoin
LA Unified Board of Education
Board Member | District 4
Find school closure resources, updates, and more info here
What’s Coming Up?
SCHOOL CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
West L.A. Community of Schools
Town Hall for the West L.A. Community of Schools on Wednesday, July 15th at 6:00 p.m. Please use the link below to register for the West L.A. Community of Schools webinar. https://lausd.zoom.us/we…/register/WN_woCPtb_NTpusYpufaBfNag
Town Hall for the West L.A. Community of Schools on Wednesday, July 15th at 6:00 p.m. Please use the link below to register for the West L.A. Community of Schools webinar. https://lausd.zoom.us/we…/register/WN_woCPtb_NTpusYpufaBfNag
From Alisa Land Hill
"I wanted to share with our parent community that local concerned citizens and leaders of various groups (Sheila Kuehl and Assemblyman Bloom offices, Town Council, Sages, TCEP, TCC, etc) have started meeting via Zoom each Wed at 630 pm to discuss preparedness and local needs during the covid 19 pandemic. All are welcome to join to listen, share ideas, and get involved."
Please email Alisa at alisajlandhill@gmail.com to request the Zoom link. Thank you!
"I wanted to share with our parent community that local concerned citizens and leaders of various groups (Sheila Kuehl and Assemblyman Bloom offices, Town Council, Sages, TCEP, TCC, etc) have started meeting via Zoom each Wed at 630 pm to discuss preparedness and local needs during the covid 19 pandemic. All are welcome to join to listen, share ideas, and get involved."
Please email Alisa at alisajlandhill@gmail.com to request the Zoom link. Thank you!
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