Students and families can safely get food at one of Los Angeles Unified School District’s 63 Grab and Go Food Centers. (photo courtesy of LAUSD)

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner said Jan. 11 that students must be vaccinated in order to return to school once the vaccine becomes available to children.

That same day, he was joined by leaders of labor partners representing more than 75,000 LAUSD employees in advocating for more state action to address the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on low-income communities of color.

“On Dec. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his ‘Safe Schools for All’ plan to support the reopening of school classrooms. While it prioritizes the reopening of public schools with the potential for additional school funding, the plan falls well short of what is needed to provide help to the students and communities we serve,” Beutner said. “Los Angeles Unified stands ready to resume in-person instruction as soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so, but we cannot do it alone. The state must acknowledge the needs in our schools and take the following actions necessary for all California children to receive the education they deserve.”

Actions specified by Beutner include funding for all schools to redress the disproportionate impact on low-income communities served who will not likely meet the proposed “Safe Schools for All” deadline of Feb. 1. He noted that they were also unlikely to meet the less ambitious March 1 deadline put forth by many experts, given current health conditions.

Other actions include: advocating that public health funds, not K-12 educational funds from Proposition 98, be used for COVID testing and vaccinations; reinforcing the need for a clear state standard for COVID-19-related health issues in schools; integrating school-based health services, including distribution of state funds directly to school districts to cover costs, including COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and administration of vaccines in the same way and at the same rate as other municipal agencies and providers; and additional instructional time and targeted funding for students who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including English-learners, students with disabilities and homeless and foster youth.

Additional actions Beutner specified included funding to support reopening the schools including, child-care services, and additional funding to maintain clean, safe and sanitary schools, as well as infrastructure and transportation. Finally, the safe reopening also must include a COVID-19 relief plan from local and state government officials to drive down coronavirus case rates in high-needs communities to enable local schools to open.

 “State and local public health officials must tackle this challenge head-on or we will be left with more of the same: continued high rates of the virus in low-income communities that make it unsafe to reopen classrooms,” Beutner said.

“The last 10 months have been a struggle. Elected leaders at the state and local level need to join with us to discuss what we’ve learned, what can be improved and how we can all make sure the next 10 months are better for students and families than the past 10 months,” he added.

For more information, visit lausd.org.