News Update

Los Angeles teachers union urges against removing mask mandate so soon

As Los Angeles Unified weighs removing its mask mandate, its teachers union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, is calling on the district to keep it.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that California will no longer require masks in schools after March 11, though state health officials “strongly recommend” masking in schools. The decision is ultimately left to local health officials and individual school districts.

In a statement to KTLA and other media on Monday, UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said that though Covid-19 cases have been declining, there are still many unvaccinated children in schools and early education programs, so discussing dropping the mandate would be “premature.”

The district’s contract with the union calls for masking through the remainder of the school year, so an end to the mandate would need to be negotiated with the union.