Amid mixed emotions from parents and students, this Monday the middle and high schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) reopened.
This means that officially all schools in the district have reopened after being closed to face-to-face classes for over a year. Preschools and elementary schools began their reopening two weeks ago.
Superintendent Austin Beutner said Monday morning that classrooms are clean, sanitized, and have air filters equivalent to an N- (mask .
Additionally, the facilities have been reconfigured to keep everyone in the school separate and secure and all have received a covid test – 19 before returning to campus.
“These human connections not only help us feel whole, but they provide the spark of learning in all of us, children and adults, ”said the superintendent.
Beutner added that the reopening of schools also makes a difference for families. They know that their children are safe, learning and in a place where they can overcome some of the trauma and anxiety they have experienced during the pandemic
“Being together in school is a start on the road to recovery of our school communities ”, indicated Beutner.
This is an experience shared by Jessi Argueta, who has two children in primary school and began her face-to-face classes two weeks ago.
Argueta said that her children were suffering a lot when trying to learn online since they did not focus and could not spend much time in front of the computer.
“Now I feel very good to have sent them There is a lot of order in the school and I see that there is a lot of security ”, said the mother of the family. “My children tell me they liked coming back.”
His children who are in second and third grade attend a primary school in South Los Angeles and Argueta, he said they have them in groups of they feel comfortable with the schedule they have been given as well as the precautionary measures. Parents had to previously download an application on their cell phone where they have to answer seven questions every day to make sure they are not at risk of contagion from covid – . When they arrive at school in the morning, the school personnel scan the code and let the children pass.
“That is the pass for the day and if a parent needs to take it out there they will help them”, said Argueta.
Structure of school days
Beutner added that high school students will begin the day with in-person participation, led by the teacher, in an advisory period to help reconnect again. Then they will participate in three online classes, have lunch with friends, access a safe place with the Internet with everything they need to study independently before participating in extracurricular activities such as sports or music.
By the At the moment, students will not receive in-person instruction in most of their classes because if they do, even in small groups of 12 or 14 people, would have to attend 6 to 7 different classes per day coming into contact with some 250 people.
“An individual with the virus I could pass it on to many others. At this time, we are going to err on the side of caution to keep people safe during the remaining few weeks of the semester, ”reported the superintendent.
During the past three weeks, the district reported that students to the covid – campus. LAUSD is evaluating between 25, 000 Y 30, 000 people every day.
It is well known that both children and adults can contract the virus and spread it to other people. And it has been revealed that more than half of the people contracted it from someone asymptomatic.
“If the 90% of people on a school campus are children who have not been vaccinated, the safest thing is to test everyone, children and adults, before they start school and regularly thereafter ” , said the superintendent.
The objective is that the tests be carried out weekly although it will not always be possible and in some occasions they will be carried out between 8 and 14 days difference.
Not everyone agrees to return
Mr. Pedro Tot has a son who is in middle school, but said that he definitely does not plan to send him to face-to-face classes for now.
“In the first because they are not forcing the teachers to get vaccinated and in the second, because the children are not vaccinated and can infect others ”, said the father of the family .
Tot added that his son, who is in sixth grade, is also not interested in returning to face-to-face classes because he is afraid of catching it.
Evelyn Alemán, who has his daughter in grade .
“I was sick with covid, we lost three family members and I am afraid that my daughter will be infected, although she is already vaccinated, and brings the virus,” said Alemán.
The LAUSD parent leader said that she does not understand “the rush” to get children back to school and questions if it is in the interest of learning or the money the schools receive.
It is estimated that 74% of students attending LAUSD are Latino. Also since the pandemic began, Latinos have been the group most affected by COVID – 19 .
“We are afraid, there is trauma in our communities. There have been many infections. We want to know if everyone is going to be vaccinated ”, said Alemán.