LAUSD To Get Enough Vaccines For Elementary School Reopenings

LOS ANGELES, CA —The Los Angeles Unified School District will get enough COVID-19 vaccines next week to inoculate staff at LA elementary schools. If the district waits until all staffers have full immunity, then schools could reopen for the youngest students by mid-April.

Teachers within the district became eligible for the vaccine Monday morning. Full access to the vaccines are a game-changer for Los Angeles schools. United Teachers Los Angeles and L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner have said that schools would not reopen until staff have had access to the coronavirus vaccines. Though the district and teachers union are continuing to negotiate conditions, the shortage of vaccines had made reopening a nonstarter in Los Angeles, threatening to let the school year slip away without widespread in-person instruction at the nation's second-largest school district. In addition to full vaccination, the teachers union also wants the case rate to drop before schools can reopen, potentially pushing reopenings further away.

"I’m pleased to announce the Governor has committed an additional 25,000 doses of vaccine for school staff in Los Angeles Unified over the next two weeks," Beutner said. "There are more than 86,000 people who work in traditional and charter schools in Los Angeles Unified. Our initial focus will be to vaccinate school staff who are currently working at school sites and all who are involved in preschool and elementary school. This vaccination effort will allow us to reopen these schools by the middle of April as part of the plan we have shared."

The news comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature announced a multibillion-dollar deal Monday to entice schools to resume in-person instruction for young students by April 1. Los Angeles appears poised to miss out on the deadline for multiple reasons. The deal would create a pool of $2 billion for districts that reopen campuses for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade, as well as high-need students of all ages. Districts would be able to use the money for protective equipment, ventilation systems and other coronavirus mitigation measures.

The earliest districts to open will get a higher percentage of the funding. School districts that wait until after April to reopen will get a shrinking piece of the pie. The proposal does not order schools to reopen.

The legislative package also includes another $4.6 billion in general funding for all schools to help districts make up for learning time lost during the pandemic, possibly by extending the school year into the summer.

While the goal of the legislation is to get young students back to campus by April 1, the Los Angeles Unified School District is unlikely to meet that date. The powerful teachers' union has not yet agreed to a reopening date. The union is planning an evening press conference Monday to address the issue.

The union does not want campuses to reopen until Los Angeles County moves out of the "purple" tier. Union officials argue that while the countywide transmission rate has dropped below the 25 per 100,000 residents threshold, many neighborhoods the LAUSD serves are lower-income, and have rates that are three times as high. Los Angeles remains in the most restrictive "purple tier" of the state's COVID reopening roadmap. Under existing state guidelines, schools in counties that meet the 25 cases per 100,000 residents threshold are authorized — but not required — to resume in-person classes for students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

UTLA's membership is voting this week on a proposed statement of opposition to reopening campuses, saying in-person instruction cannot resume until the county is in the "red" tier; all school staff returning to in-person work "are either fully vaccinated or provided access to full vaccination"; and safety measures are in place at schools such as protective equipment, social distancing, ventilation and "a cleaning regimen."

Beutner has supported the union's call for vaccinations before a return to classes. LAUSD is even operating a vaccination site dedicated to education workers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Even with LAUSD expected to receive about 40% of vaccine doses in the county set aside for education workers, it was unlikely that all elementary school teachers would be vaccinated in time to meet Beutner's proposed April 9 date for school reopening, much less the state's new April 1 date.

The money would be available to schools in counties that have an average daily new COVID case rate of less than 25 per 100,000 residents, which covers the vast majority of the state including Los Angeles County

Under the proposed legislative incentive package being announced Monday, schools in counties that advance out of the state's "purple" tier and into the less-restrictive "red" tier — with a new COVID case rate of 7 per 100,000 residents and positivity rate less than 8 % — would be required to open all elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade to qualify for the incentive funds.

Even if the district does receive enough doses, it still wouldn't meet the union demand that schools remain closed until the county emerges from the "purple" tier. Los Angeles County's COVID case rates have been dropping dramatically following a winter surge, but it was unclear when it might be able to advance to the "red" tier.

As of Monday, the county's adjusted rate of daily new cases was 12.3 per 100,000 residents, still above the 7-per-100,000 level needed to move to the "red" tier. The case rate is updated weekly, with the next update scheduled for Tuesday. Newsom said Tuesday's update will likely move seven counties across the state from the "purple" tier to the "red" tier, but he did not specify which counties would be advancing.

Newsom reiterated Monday that vaccinations should not be considered a pre-requisite for schools to reopen. But he has ordered that a minimum of 10% of all vaccinations received by the state, a minimum of 75,000 doses per week, be set aside for teachers and school staff. He also said the two vaccination sites in the state-operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- including one at Cal State Los Angeles -- will be reserved this Thursday and Friday for school staff and teachers only.

Doses administered at the FEMA sites are in addition to the state's allocation of doses.

Although the LAUSD teachers union is balking at an immediate return to classes, other Southland school districts are moving ahead with reopening efforts under the current state guidelines allowing in-person instruction for students up to sixth grade.

As of Monday, 26 school districts in Los Angeles County have had "COVID Safety Plans" approved by the county Department of Public Health. The plans outline all safety measures taken by the districts to prepare for the resumption of in-person classes.

Just because a district's safety plan is approved doesn't mean the district will automatically reopen. LAUSD is among the districts with an approved safety plan.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.