The Beverly Hills Unified School District hosted a testing day on Jan. 9. (photo courtesy of the BHUSD)

In-person learning has resumed for Beverly Hills Unified School District students after more than two weeks, despite the COVID-19 omicron variant creating disruption for families and school staff.

Last week, the district announced that all students and staff members – regardless of vaccination status – would be required to present a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school on Jan. 10.

Since then, district officials have reported 159 active student cases and 39 staff cases.

“Staff is working incredibly hard – almost 24/7 – to keep schools open, trying to keep kids safe,” BHUSD Vice President Noah Margo said.

He praised the district’s foresight to order testing kits prior to the break, which began on Dec. 22 for students. On Jan. 9, district officials distributed tests to families from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. outside Hawthorne Elementary School. Families were also able to get tested through their health care providers.

If students tested positive, they were directed to the district office for further testing.

“I was very impressed,” board member Rachelle Marcus said of the test distribution. She added that district staff worked a lot of hours to put it together. “They were on vacation, but they weren’t on vacation, trust me.”

Margo said the district has “all hands on deck” and is using all the tools at its disposal to resume the learning process.

“They’re juggling staff,” he said. “They’re using remote options when possible.”

Several parents have asked why the district has not gone back to remote learning completely, Margo said.

“I don’t think it yields different results anyway, and it’s a very complicated process to go remote and come back from remote,” he added. “It’s not like flipping a switch. I applaud our team, our administration team, our faculty and the parents who are helping the process along.”

BHUSD schools have felt a “little bit” of strain with so many staff members quarantining, but it has a “large” pool of substitutes to fill any gaps, Margo said.

“It’s nothing that we can’t get through,” he said.

BHUSD President Mary Wells agreed.

“We’re getting by,” she said. “It’s challenging, of course. We were already hiring before the break. Right now, they’re able to cover any absences that we do have. Of course, we all have to take it kind of day by day. Our goal is to keep school open and safe. … We know that learning in person is the best for the students, as well as their mental, social and emotional health.”

Alana Castanon, certificated president of the Beverly Hills Education Association, said its members were pleased that the district implemented the testing requirement before students returned to school.

“That was really a big relief for things to start off smoothly,” she said. “We’re pleased that there will continue to be weekly access to tests for staff and students. As far as the actual teacher experience in the classroom, I’d be lying if I said it is not a challenge. It’s definitely a hard time to be a teacher. We’ve got a lot of students out. We’ve got a lot of staff out. I am wishing everyone a really speedy and complete recovery, because we are living through very trying times.”

Margo called on the community to follow the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s guidelines, whether they agree with them or not.

“We need to show the best of us,” he said. “And I understand that not everybody believes in the vaccine and not everybody believes we should be wearing masks, but those are the mandates from a higher authority, and it would make it a lot easier for our faculty administrators to do their jobs and educate our children if people would be more compliant and more respectful.”

The district is stressing that families should keep their students at home if they show any symptoms of being sick.

“The magnitude of the omicron variant and the impact it is having on learning cannot be understated,” Superintendent of Schools Michael Bregy said in an e-mail to parents this week. “Although we are confident in our ability to pivot, the number of students in quarantine is unlike anything we have experienced without transitioning the entire school to [remote] learning.”