February 16, 2021 5:08 PM
A sign at Thomas Starr King Middle School, an L.A. Unified campus in Silver Lake, flashes public health messages during the COVID-19 crisis on April 1, 2020. (Kyle Stokes/LAist)
For the first time since the pandemic began, L.A. County has reached a threshold for reopening elementary schools. But that doesn t mean Los Angeles Unified, the nation s second-largest school district, will be inviting students back anytime soon.
The LAUSD teacher s union, United Teachers Los Angeles, is pushing back against calls to reopen until teachers are eligible for vaccines and COVID-19 cases drop even lower.
In the last five days, the county coronavirus case rate fell to 20 positive cases per 100,000 people. That s still in the most restrictive purple tier, but it meets the state s recently revised guidelines for in-person instruction.
With COVID numbers dropping, the state will now allow elementary schools to reopen for in-person learning. However threshold for reopening middle schools and high schools hasn't been reached yet.
L A Unified is officially out of excuses for keeping elementary schools closed – HotAir hotair.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hotair.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Los Angeles Unified School District today will open its first school-based COVID-19 vaccination center, but shots will only be offered to people who qualify for the inoculations as health care workers or who are age 65 or over.