Vaccines: LAUSD announces it is launching widespread COVID-19 inoculation drive for students
Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to encouraging students to get their COVID-19 vaccines, so starting next week, the Los Angeles Unified School District will deploy mobile vaccination teams to about 250 school sites over the next few weeks to get as many shots into students’ arms as possible, Superintendent Austin Beutner announced Monday.
The announcement comes a week after federal regulators authorized the Pfizer vaccine for use on children ages 12 to 15, a move which state and national officials believe will pave the way for schools across the country to fully reopen when the 2021-22 school year starts.
LAUSD serves nearly 300,000 students ages 12 and up, and getting them vaccinated is a critical step in the path
to recovery from the pandemic, Beutner said during his weekly update.
“Ninety percent of people on a school campus at any point in time are children. Herd immunity won’t be reached in schools or in the broader community until children are vaccinated,” he said.
The district plans to have a mobile vaccination team visit every middle and high school campus at least once before this school year ends on June 11 and again in the summer.
The district will soon share a schedule of when vaccinations will be available at a school, and families will be able to book appointments using the district’s Daily Pass.
To encourage students and their families to make use of the mobile vaccination sites, the district will have food trucks at these events and will reward schools with high enough participation rates.
Details are being finalized, but the idea is to reward a school with a certain percentage of students vaccinated with, say, $5,000, which could pay for items on its wish list, such as a new garden or more library books. The money would come from COVID-19 relief dollars LAUSD is slated to receive from the government, Beutner said.
To accommodate working families, the vaccination teams would be available from about noon to 7 p.m. weekdays, with some Saturday hours offered as well. Additionally, LAUSD will offer district employees paid time off to take their children to get vaccinated, Beutner said, adding that he hopes other businesses will follow suit.
In California, minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, who must give consent, for the child to receive the vaccine, while a handful of states allow some children younger than 18 to decide for themselves or allow vaccine providers to determine if parental consent is necessary.
In an interview Sunday, Beutner said he believes a parent or guardian should give consent, but suggested there could be a “middle ground” where the adult would not need to be physically present for a minor to be vaccinated. A parent could sign a permission slip for their child to be inoculated, similar to when a student goes on a field trip, for example, he said.
This would benefit working parents who might otherwise have to take time off work to take their child to be vaccinated, thus creating another barrier to access, he said.
“(It’s) a real burden for a working family member to have to take time off to go with their 17-year- old” to get vaccinated, he said. “I would love to see California … allow the consent to be given remotely.”
On the issue of masks, Beutner noted during the interview that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent guidance that individuals no longer need to wear masks in most indoor settings nor when they’re outdoors apply to fully vaccinated people.
Because the majority of people on campuses are children — most of whom have not been vaccinated — Beutner said that for the time being, schools will continue to mandate mask wearing.
“Masking will likely continue until we have a greater portion of children vaccinated,” he said.
State officials have also been asked if they would relax California’s masking rules. On Monday, state public health officials said that Californians should keep wearing masks indoors until June 15, regardless of their vaccination status.
Graduation and summer plans
Beutner briefly mentioned in his Monday broadcast that schools are planning socially distanced, outdoor graduation ceremonies. Asked later in the day for more details, the superintendent said school leaders hope to finalize plans this week.
“We have authorized all schools to have full, in-person outdoor graduations,” he said. “‘Full’ meaning all students, ‘full’ meaning the ability to invite family members and friends.”
Schools with a stadium or field on campus might use that space for the ceremony, while other schools might have to turn to a neighboring campus or community space to hold their ceremonies, he said, adding there will be graduation or “culmination” events for both high school seniors and kindergartners moving on to the first grade.
As for summer school, the district will once again open it up to all students this year, offering reading, math, science and English courses for K-8 students. High school students who are behind on credits can catch up, but also, for the first time, they’ll be offered the chance to take courses to get ahead. Enrichment classes will also be offered for all grade levels.
Students up through middle school can enroll in in-person programs that run from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays that offer academic classes in the morning and sports, arts and other activities in the afternoon. Breakfast and lunch will be provided on campus.
Students can also sign up for courses online.
What about the fall?
Beutner continued to insist this week that by the time fall semester rolls around, every student will have the option to learn on campus full-time.
“Full-day programs for both elementary and secondary students will look much like they did prior to the pandemic,” he said.
He’s previously said the master class schedule for secondary students might change from the typical 7-period day to a block schedule where students take four classes per semester in order to keep students in stable cohorts.
In the meantime, the head of United Teachers Los Angeles provided a more measured response to the idea of full school reopenings last week.
“It is our hope that all schools will be able to physically open five days per week in the fall, but local conditions will determine whether that is possible,” union president Cecily Myart-Cruz said during her Friday updates. “UTLA educators will be laser focused, ensuring we uphold necessary health and safety standards and that the voices of our most vulnerable students and their families are heard.”
On Monday, Beutner also said that online learning must remain an option for the 2021-22 school year for students who can’t or who choose not to return to campus. He acknowledged there will be students and staff members who must remain home for their own health reasons or because they live with someone who is immuno-compromised.
“We expect the vast majority of students, teachers and staff to be at school every day but recognize we must provide the online opportunity for those who need it,” he said.