California's LA schools to start in-person classes next fall as COVID-19 subsides

The huge Los Angeles Unified School District will start the new school year next fall with on-campus, in-person instruction for all students five days a week but will retain an online option, Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday.

Elementary school students will have full days of instruction with their teacher and classmates while middle and high school students will change classrooms for each period, said Beutner, who leads the nation’s second-largest school district.

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After-school programs will be available to students from the end of the school day until 6 p.m.

Beutner said, however, that an online option must remain in place for the next school year for students who are unable or choose not to come to schools for in-person instruction.

“Some students and some staff members may need to stay at home until all at schools are vaccinated due to health reasons because they live with an immune-compromised family member,” Beutner said, adding that he expects the majority of students and staff to be at school every day.

Students and staff will wear masks until more children are vaccinated, he said.

The superintendent reiterated his assertion that Los Angeles Unified has in place the highest safety standards of any school district in the nation.

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