FEATURES
Melisa Lovos Palacios
Features Editor
The Los Angeles Unified School District has announced that all public schools will open for in-person learning this fall 2021, as proclaimed by Superintendent Austin Beutner this past Monday. LAUSD, the largest public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States, has granted the opportunity for students from elementary through the high school age to have in-person learning, on-campus five days a week, for full in-person instruction. This will also include after-school programs until 6 pm.
It has been announced by Beutner, in KTLA News that some students and staff members may need to stay online for vaccination or health purposes, not specified. Beutner claims to expect most students and staff in person at every public school in the district, by August. However, there will be an online option for those who are unable to, or choose not to attend in person for whatever reason.
The district urges and expects children ages 12-15 to be vaccinated before the end of this school year, which is soon coming to an end. Schools who have more than 30% of students fully vaccinated will receive the award of $5,000 for projects and school material purposes.
Although there is no certainty of the safety measures that will be taken into place, then, teachers and students will be expected, as of now, to wear their masks in school at all times, for safety purposes, that is until most of the population is vaccinated and COVID 19 cases continue to drop.
Safety measures have not yet been put into place, but soon there will be more information on such. In means of being safe when everyone returns to campus, everyone eligible is expected to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The district vaccination program hopes to vaccinate 300,000 students at 250 schools, over the course of 13 days, all students of which are eligible.
Although vaccines do not prevent a person from getting sick from COVID-19, it does help minimize the symptoms. However, it is still possible to transfer the illness to others, and the best way to prevent that is by wearing a mask at all times when in public, and keeping a safe distance from others.