As COVID Cases Fall, Parents Urge LAUSD to Reach Reopening Deal with UTLA

Ariel Harman-Holmes (bottom center) with her family, wants schools to reopen because her second grader with autism cannot learn via Zoom.

With the head of the Los Angeles County Health Department predicting COVID rates could decrease enough to meet the state threshold for reopening elementary schools within the next 2-3 weeks, parents are pushing LAUSD and United Teachers Los Angeles to reach a reopening deal and share a detailed hybrid plan now.

“LAUSD should offer an in-person option to families as soon as the Health Department determines that it's safe, with a priority placed on bringing back the youngest and highest-needs kids first,” said Speak UP Founder and CEO Katie Braude. “Cardrooms, malls, gyms and salons are all open, while schools remain closed. The Centers for Disease Control recommends the opposite. Kids should come first in any reopening decisions, given the massive academic and social-emotional harm and inequities students are facing.” 

COVID cases dropped from 75/100,000 to 45/100,000 in a single week, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. If this trend continues, cases could fall to the new 25/100,000 elementary school reopening threshold set by the state next month. 

While some parents remain wary of sending their kids back so soon after L.A.’s deadly COVID surge, others are anxious to have their kids return. Parents of students with disabilities have been especially vocal about wanting that option, flooding public comment at Tuesday’s LAUSD board meeting to demand that the district start offering in-person services and instruction to students who cannot learn through a screen or to allow contracted service providers to do so in kids’ homes. 

Nearby districts in Los Angeles County have been serving kids with disabilities in person on campus since mid-September, although some took a three-week January pause recommended by the Health Department. LAUSD, however, has been unable to reach any agreement with UTLA to deliver federally mandated services and instruction in person to kids with Individualized Education Plans and recently missed its self-imposed Jan. 24 deadline to do so. They also missed their deadline to reach an agreement on an eventual hybrid reopening plan. 

Parent Carla Suarez-Capdet, whose son has autism, said UTLA had “abandoned us and our children” after parents supported teachers during their strike two years ago. “UTLA has continuously moved the goal post. They wanted more funding for special education students. It has been offered. They wanted PPE and health and safety protocols. They got it. They demanded robust COVID testing and contract tracing. It was delivered. They wanted an hourly premium added to in-person services. It was granted.” 

Now UTLA is asking its staff to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus to offer special education assessments and services. That’s a process that will start in mid-February but likely won’t be completed for a couple of months, even with teachers being placed near the top of the priority list and LAUSD set to help with the vaccination process. 

Moreover, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said full vaccination of staff was not sufficient to trigger a complete reopening of schools -- a statement that upset many parents and prompted the Los Angeles Times editorial board to write that teachers should be moved down the priority list if they don’t agree to return. 

There’s been little movement on the part of UTLA, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiling a plan last month to help incentivize the reopening of schools by offering $2 billion in funding statewide to districts that are able to reach an agreement with their employee unions by Feb. 1 to reopen once the Health Department says it’s safe. The governor’s budget proposal is still being debated in the legislature and has been criticized by superintendents and teachers unions.

Without a reopening deal with UTLA, LAUSD stands to lose substantial funding from the state if the governor's budget plan is implemented: a $70 million loss if the district does not submit an application with a UTLA agreement by the Feb. 1 and another $205 million if not submitted by March 1.

LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner acknowledged this week at Tuesday’s board meeting that the district "cannot meet the statutory requirements" for a labor agreement with UTLA while state standards are still in flux. 

Beutner also called the governor's reopening plan "flawed," criticizing the fact that the threshold for a safe reopening was raised from 7/100,000 to 25/100,000 without explanation and apparently based on published reports that he said were six months out of date. 

When the state standard for reopening "changes every week, it's very hard to build confidence," and "it's just not practical" to get an agreement on how to go back, Beutner said. "The relationship with our labor partners is built on mutual respect, trust and a common set of facts. It is not reasonable to assume we can reach an agreement based on a state health standard that is still being reviewed by the legislature and is not well explained."

LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez (BD6) echoed Beutner's criticism of the governor's plan. "One of our colleagues said it well: We don’t need to be bribed to reopen," she said. "We need it to be safe, and that still has not happened.”

Board Vice President Nick Melvoin (BD4), however, said that families deserved to see a plan for what hybrid instruction will look like once it’s safe to return. “The inability to answer these questions is causing undue stress for families and an inability to make timely preparations for teachers, all at a time where families and employees should be looking to their schools for comfort and support,” he said.

Aside from a reopening deal with UTLA, Beutner said LAUSD has all state-required safety plans in place, plus more, including testing and contact tracing, upgraded air filtration systems and PPE. He said he would submit the safety plan to the state by Feb. 1 with or without a UTLA deal. 

“To our knowledge, there is no other large school system in the nation with a school safety plan as comprehensive," he said. "It’s important that all in our school community understand schools in Los Angeles Unified are prepared to begin in-person instruction as soon as health conditions allow."  

For some parents, that day cannot come soon enough. “My second grader cannot learn on Zoom,” parent Ariel Harman-Holmes told the board Tuesday. “He is autistic, and the glitches, surprising sounds and other hiccups make him shut down and unable to pay attention. He is falling behind academically, emotionally and developmentally.” 

But parents who are reluctant to send kids back also need reassurance that their needs will be met once schools start offering an in-person option, Speak UP’s Braude said. “Those who choose to stay home also need to be guaranteed a high-quality remote education.”