![]() ![]() Thousands of Los Angeles parents opted for independent study last fall during the surge of the Delta coronavirus variant, and stayed in the online program for the current term as Omicron raged. Districts are “also realizing they’ll lose enrollment if they don’t provide this option.” “Districts are hitting the reality that many families are happy with this option,” said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Unvaccinated students will be barred from campuses for fall 2022 under LAUSD policies.Īdditionally, district officials say they’re finding an unexpectedly large number of families who want to keep their children in independent study next year, an emerging trend education experts say they are seeing across the country with more school systems offering virtual schooling. But even that high compliance rate translates to about 20,000 unvaccinated students in the nation’s second-largest school district. To date, nearly 90% of LAUSD students 12 and older have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have obtained a rare medical exemption. “If you’re allowing the students to come back (this fall) unvaccinated, what is the science that adults can’t come back and teach?” she asked.īregman, meanwhile, said employees haven’t received an explanation of how the district determined which staffers would not be invited back to teach at a virtual academy.Anticipating that thousands of Los Angeles Unified students still may not be vaccinated this fall, the Board of Education has taken the first steps toward a major expansion of remote learning, including creating as many as six new online schools that could enroll up to 15,000 students. She pointed out that the school board voted last week to postpone the district’s vaccine mandate for students until at least July 2023. Although she did not receive a letter saying that there would not be a remote position for her next school year, she attended Monday’s event to support other workers. Substitute teacher Elga Shelafoe questioned the logic of enforcing the vaccine mandate for staff only. Recently, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho made the decision to deploy certificated non-classroom employees into classrooms to address teacher vacancies. On Monday, the group of unvaccinated employees said they’re ready and willing to return to their old assignments and that the district should allow them teach in person. At least 600 employees have been fired, though it’s unclear how many were classroom teachers. In December, the district began firing individuals who had not complied with the mandate. Unified announced its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for staff last August, then transferred those who did not comply to remote positions or placed them on leave beginning in mid-October. The district did not respond to a question about how many employees were notified that there would not be a position for them at Virtual Academy in the fall. Failure to choose one of those options could result in “potentially being separated” from the district, the letter stated. ![]() Those who choose to get vaccinated or to resign or retire must inform district staff by Friday. The letter, a copy of which was shared with reporters, stated that employees have three options: get vaccinated so they can teach in person, effectively take a leave of absence if eligible, or resign or retire at the end of June. The news conference outside LAUSD’s headquarters was called in response to notices some teachers in the Virtual Academy said they received Friday evening, informing them that due to low online enrollment, they would not be called back to work in any of the virtual academies next school year. ![]() I’m fighting for my financial security,” Bregman said Monday, May 16, during a gathering of about three dozen educators and parents who oppose the district’s vaccination mandate for staff. If she chooses the latter, Bregman, who teaches in the district’s online Virtual Academy, would miss out not only on three more years’ worth of salary but, she estimates, she’d receive about $1,500 less in monthly retirement benefits. Now, three years shy of her planned retirement date, she said she’s being forced to get the COVID-19 vaccine or retire early. For 36 years, teacher Janet Bregman has worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District. ![]()
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