LA Unified students will attend full-day, in-person classes this fall

Los Angeles students will be able to attend full-day, in-person classes five days a week when the upcoming school year begins in August, according to Superintendent Austin Beutner. Middle and high school students will also change classrooms for each period during their school day. Plus, all students will have access to after-school programs from the end of the school day until 6 p.m. every evening.

It will be the first time such a schedule has been an option for the state’s largest school district since it shut down in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. The roll-out of this updated schedule, however, will depend on Covid-19 transmission and vaccination rates as the summer progresses.

“While we have some sense of what school will look like, our COVID crystal ball is not perfect. The good news is infections continue to decrease, more people are being vaccinated and health authorities tell us conditions should continue to improve,” Beutner said in a Monday morning update. “Whatever it looks like in the weeks or months ahead, we will continue to meet or exceed state and local health standards in our schools.”

Students will have the option to remain learning online, however, if they cannot or do not wish to attend school in person. Details have yet to be announced regarding how the online option will be implemented, but it will be made available to students of all grade levels, Beutner said.