News Update

LA Unified to reopen next week for child care, small group instruction

Next week, Los Angeles Unified will welcome a small number of students back to campus for child care, one-on-one and small group instruction, services for students with special needs, and for athletic conditioning. It is the first return to campus in any form since a surge in coronavirus cases shut down all campuses in December.

In anticipation of this limited reopening of campuses, LA Unified on Monday launched a mobile application, Daily Pass, created in partnership with Microsoft as part of the district’s reopening plan. The application generates a unique QR code that can be used to enter school buildings for a single day after the individual meets specific health requirement, including a negative test result for Covid-19.

District employees, students 13 years or older and family members will also be able to use the Daily Pass to schedule vaccination appointments with the district’s vaccination program — which is slowly being rolled out — and register for vaccination waitlists, among other features, according to a press release.

“As difficult as the decision was to close school classrooms, reopening is even harder. We have to balance the learning needs of students, the support we provide to working families and the responsibility to protect the health and safety of all in the school community,” LA Unified superintendent Austin Beutner said in a Monday briefing. “We cannot — and will not — compromise on health and safety.” 

Beginning March 1, the district will open its second vaccination site at Hollywood Park, which all LA County public and private school employees will be able to access. The second site is a continuation of Beutner’s plan to reopen all preschools and elementary schools by April 9. He has tied that deadline, however, to the vaccination of at least 25,000 employees. To date, few employees have been inoculated amid vaccine shortages.