Manhattan Beach Schools To Open Full-Time In The Fall

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA —The Manhattan Beach Unified School District has approved a resolution confirming that schools will open full-time for the 2021/2022 school year.

The resolution affirms that "to help each child grow academically, socially, and emotionally, Manhattan Beach Unified School District will reopen for 100% in-person learning this fall. Beginning on August 25, 2021, the District will utilize the same 180 days-a-year full-day schedules employed on March 13, 2020, prior to pandemic-related school closures and schedule changes, barring any county or state guidelines prohibiting it."

"There is nothing that we see that’s going to stop us from opening in full next year," MBUSD Superintendent Mike Matthews said at the board meeting.

When MBUSD Board President Jen Fenton asked if the district needed a "Plan B" to assure district families that they would still receive the appropriate instructional time in case local guidelines changed, Matthews replied that schools would reopen no matter what.

In a message Matthews released to parents on Tuesday, he urged families who were still "on the fence" about re-enrolling to move forward.

"The longer families wait, the greater the chance that they might not be able to attend their home school. We are a public school district - we guarantee a seat to anyone who lives here," he wrote in his statement. "But if, when a family enrolls, their home site is already full in that grade, we will assign the student to another school where there is room in that grade. The good news is that all of our schools and teachers are fantastic, so students are remarkably happy and successful wherever they are enrolled. But I also know that parents want the school that is closest to their home, or the site their student attended prior to the pandemic. The best way to have that option is to enroll your child now."