Malibu School Board And Teachers Union Ratify Reopening Agreement

MALIBU, CA — The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced Friday that it had ratified an agreement with the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association on the implementation of a hybrid "Distance Learning Plus" system.

Per the agreement, the schools will begin the DL Plus system, which would feature a mix of virtual and in-person learning and divide students into morning and afternoon cohorts:

• Fifteen days after the LADPH has begun phase 1b vaccines for education and childcare workers (which is set to begin in March)
• When the adjusted case rate in Los Angeles County is below 25 cases per 100,000 per day, for five consecutive days (for grades TK-5)
• When Los Angeles County reaches the Red Tier, meaning four to seven cases per 100,000 each day and a coronavirus test positivity rate of between five and eight percent (for grades 6-12.) The county is currently in the purple tier, but Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer estimated that it could enter the red tier by the spring.

The newest agreement is an addendum to an memorandum of understanding signed in August by both the district and the union.

The district learning plus model, which was approved in December, will vary according to each school, and a statement from Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati released Monday said that details of the plan will be distributed to families after the ratification by site principals. The DL Plus system would give families the choice to remain either all-virtual, or follow a hybrid model of virtual and on-site instruction. For example, an elementary school may allow students back on campus for two full days a week. On the remaining three days, students would learn online in the mornings, and return to campus from 1-3 p.m., where they would be split up into different cohorts. These different scenarios vary by school and are being developed with the input of parent and staff representative councils.

Related coverage:

District Outlines Tentative Deal For Opening Malibu Schools | Malibu, CA Patch

SMMUSD Aims To Reopen In The Fall | Malibu, CA Patch