Student vaccine order delayed
L.A. school board won’t enforce the mandate until the fall, as opposed to January.
The Los Angeles school board agreed Tuesday to delay enforcement of its student COVID-19 vaccine mandate from Jan. 10 to fall 2022, citing concerns over disrupting learning and the monumental task of transferring tens of thousands of students into independent study.
The decision came after interim Supt. Megan K. Reilly laid out a plan Friday to push back the deadline because the district was confronted with the reality that about 28,000 students had not complied and under the rules would be barred from in-person schooling and enrolled in independent study.
So far, 87% of L.A. Unified students 12 and older have shown proof of vaccination, obtained a medical exemption or received a rare extension, a high rate that Reilly cited when she proposed the delay. The district’s independent study program, City of Angels, was overwhelmed in the fall with about 16,000 students — and district officials did not want to send so many children back to online learning.
Doing so also would mean transferring teachers to City of Angels and disrupting academic programs and learning for vaccinated students who would remain in schools, board members said.
“I felt like we were ending up with a situation in which those who complied would be the most negatively affected,” school board member Jackie Goldberg said. “I think we have no choice.”
She added that those opposed to COVID-19 vaccinations cannot claim victory. “I want to tell those of you who come and ... think you pushed us back. No, you didn’t. The mandate remains.”
The board also voted to expand the student vaccination mandate to charter schools that are authorized by the district.
School board member George McKenna, who supported the measure to expand the mandate to charter schools, was the only member to vote no on postponing the student vaccination deadline, saying the delay “dilutes the intent of the original policy.” All other board members supported both provisions.
Incoming Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who was in Los Angeles on Tuesday, weighed in during a news conference, calling the move “the right decision.”
“The conditions that the board is facing today, and the policy adjustments are not, in my opinion, a reversal of decisions made,” he said, but “an evolution of the previous board position” that recognizes what is best for students.
United Teachers Los Angeles also voiced support for the delayed enforcement at the school board meeting.
On Monday, a judge upheld the district’s mandate after two parent organizations challenged it in court. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff denied a request for a preliminary injunction, stating that the district’s imperative to protect the health and safety of students outweighed the difficulties of remote learning.
High school students on sports teams will still need to get vaccinated in order to participate.
Other school districts in California, including Oakland Unified and Culver City Unified, have also opted to not enforce or have pushed back their original mandate deadlines.
While some independent charters have voluntarily adopted the student mandate, El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills opted against it. David Hussey, El Camino’s executive director, said the charter board’s decision came after more than two hours of input from the community, including teachers, students and parents.
“They just decided at this point they would rather follow local and state guidelines,” Hussey said.