Some L. A. schools start to reopen. Class rule: No sharing.
Learning to share is typically among the first lessons for kindergartners. But not when hundreds arrived on campus Monday, the f irst public school children in Los Angeles County to return to something like a regular classroom amid surging coronavirus infections.
No shared pencils or crayons. No sitting together at tables. No bouncing a ball from one person to another. Use outstretched “airplane arms” to keep distant from classmates.
Yet for all the restrictions they had to navigate, families and officials expressed excitement as their small public school system in the Calabasas area became the first in L. A. County to reopen campuses to transitional kindergarten through second grade under countyapproved waivers. The waivers allow campuses to reopen even when COVID- 19 infection rates are high. About 2,000 students set foot in classrooms for in
person learning 55 days into the school year.
“We’re excited to get started!” Supt. Dan Stepenosky told The Times. The Las Virgenes Unified School District straddles the L. A. County- Ventura County border but sits mostly within L. A. County, so his waivers were granted by that county’s Department of Public Health. “Most parents are over- themoon excited,” he added.
Similar expressions of joy and relief — mixed with residual concerns — will be playing out at dozens of local elementary schools in the coming weeks, but not in a way that is equitable for all students.
As of Monday, the county Public Health Department had granted waivers to 74 elementary schools, a tiny fraction of the 2,200 public schools in L. A. County. The vast majority have gone to private schools. The health departments in Pasadena and Long Beach have granted 10 additional waivers — all to private schools. Similar narratives have played out in other California counties.
Although more public school districts are beginning to enter the application process, the county’s largest school systems and many serving large numbers of students from low- income families, including Los Angeles Unified, are not applying, citing major safety concerns as the county remains in the most restrictive pur
ple tier under the state’s four- phase reopening plan — indicating widespread transmission of the virus. Some cite lack of funding to provide necessary health and safety equipment as well as resistance from employee unions.
Fear about the virus persists even where families are returning their children to campus.
Liraz Benelisha got teary seeing her son off to kindergarten — no non- employee adults are allowed on campus. Though happy that he’d f inally get to meet classmates in person, she was worried.
“Outside of school, some people are still not wearing masks, still socializing as if nothing is happening,” she said. “I’m trusting others with my son’s health.”
In seeking waivers, many private schools took employ
ee concerns into full account, but there were no unions to push for additional safety measures. L. A. County initially made employee support for a waiver mandatory but later dropped that requirement. The county’s process now simply requires outreach to employees, which aligns with state guidelines. With this change, public schools could catch up to private ones on waivers, but school districts remain cautious about working through concerns raised by unions.
Even before waivers became available, many private schools moved quickly to bring back large numbers of students deemed to have special needs, when that became possible in L. A. County on Sept. 14. These rules allow up to 25% of a school’s students on campus at any given time.
When waivers also became available, these schools’ safety protocols already were in place, often including outdoor, tented classrooms for part- time instruction, new HVAC systems that f ilter the air and desks separated by plexiglass. Some schools have required regular coronavirus testing of students and staff.
Many private schools interpreted the special- needs provision to include all of their youngest students. The county has left it up to educators to define special needs.
Chadwick School, which is applying for a waiver, brought back kindergarteners at the end of September, and f irst- and secondgraders in mid- October to its Palos Verdes Peninsula campus. Next week students through 12th grade will begin weekly visits to campus.
Westside Neighborhood School in Playa Vista, which has received a waiver, welcomed its 85 kindergarteners and f irst- graders back in early October. Higher grades are gradually being worked back into campus life.
Las Virgenes was able to open with a waiver after winning a union endorsement. El Segundo Unified also won backing from its employees as part of its successful waiver applications. Its two elementary schools are likely to open in early December. Other local school systems with approved waivers through Monday are
La Cañada Unified and Manhattan Beach Unified. All four school systems serve comparatively prosperous communities — and also areas where coronavirus infections rates are lower.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified is applying for waivers, but Supt. Alexander Cherniss also would like to see authorization for a more general reopening in parts of L. A. County where infection rates for the coronavirus are comparatively low.
In a public town hall Monday, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said state rules don’t allow counties to reopen in sections. She also noted that infection rates are currently rising in virtually every L. A. County community.
In reopened schools, Ferrer said Monday, there have been “three or four” cases at 10 schools so far. One school reported nine cases after a group of students went to Arizona to play a baseball game. Participants got infected, then came home and infected others, she said. Ferrer did not name the school.
Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second- largest school system, has not applied for reopening waivers but is providing one- on- one tutoring and small- group instruction for up to three students at a time for those with special needs. The district recently said about 1,000 students were participating among its 460,000 K- 12th students.
Rowland Unified, a diverse San Gabriel Valley school system, is on a similar track and reached an agreement Friday with its teachers association to begin inperson one- on- one assessments for students with disabilities.
“This will be the first step in bringing students back,” district spokeswoman Gina Ward said. “Both the union and the district are committed to the safety of all students and staff.”
On Monday, children encountered new rules and procedures as they entered Lupin Hill Elementary in Las Virgenes Unified.
Students underwent two temperature scans: one outside and one just inside the school building. A temperature of 100 degrees or higher means they are to turn around and go home. Masks are mandatory for all — even the youngest students — except during lunch.
The color of the day is blue and the shape of the day is a circle. Blue dots designate how far apart students have to be in class, on the playground and in eating areas.
In Jennifer Klein’s kindergarten class, all students received their own supplies.
“Why can’t we share them?” she asked her students.
Olivia Johnson raised her hand.
“Because of the corona,” she said without hesitation from behind her white mask, which complemented her light pink, sequined high tops.