Students are returning to class on Tuesday morning and many parents across the nation have anxiously been waiting for their kids to come home. For decades now, teachers have taught a standardized curriculum that has done little in terms of preparing students for life outside of school or even understanding how they function once they leave campus. Experts believe that this new educational paradigm will help encourage critical thinking skills and provide more opportunities for high-quality learning inside schools as well as out into society at large.
Students set to return to class on Tuesday, September 3rd. Read more in detail here: when do we go back to school 2020 in-person.
BURBANK, Calif. (CBSLA) – With children returning to school throughout the Southland on Tuesday, the race is on to be tested for COVID-19, a mandated requirement for pupils entering the Spring semester – at least those in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
EL SERENO, CALIFORNIA – FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022 – On January 4, 2022, LAUSD students and staff queue for a COVID-19 exam at a walk-up location at El Sereno Middle School in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles. Parents escorted their children to the event. As a new phase of heightened concern among parents and educators emerges in the wake of the Omicron variant’s dramatic spread, the Los Angeles school system has ordered coronavirus testing for all kids and staff before they return from Christmas break next week. (Getty Images/Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) )
READ MORE: California’s COVID-19 Testing Capacity Is Boosted by the National Guard, According to Governor Newsom
Thousands of LAUSD kids and parents have flocked to designated testing facilities in recent days, and the rush to be tested does not seem to be slowing down before the weekend.
The school system is asking all students to submit a negative test result before returning to campus on Tuesday, with the semester starting on Tuesday. In order to ensure that every kid receives a test, school administrators have aided in the distribution of take-home examinations to families, a difficult effort given the vast number of pupils under LAUSD’s authority, which is estimated to be 664,774.
In addition to in-person testing at certain locations, North Hollywood’s Roy Romer Middle School was giving out take-home exams to parents who waited in line for hours on Saturday afternoon.
Megan K. Reilly, the Interim Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said that since the lines have become so long and the demand for exams is so great, quick testing would be provided for pupils who were unable to meet the deadline.
With a large number of tests comes a rise in numbers, as one would anticipate. The positive rate is about 10% more than it was before the Fall semester, at 13.5 percent compared to 4 percent, according to school authorities.
Despite the county reporting record-breaking numbers on many occasions over the course of a week, health experts expect that with so many youngsters returning to school, numbers might rise even higher. Over 200,00 instances were recorded in Los Angeles County in only one week, from January 1 to January 8.
While some parents believe the mandated testing – and other rules – go too far, many parents appreciate the district’s efforts, not just for the students’ safety but also for the protection of their families. “I think it’s fantastic that the district is offering them and mandating testing before students return to school,” said Bekki Herzon, a LAUSD parent.
Staff and kids are eager to return to the classroom, despite the greater numbers reported.
READ MORE: Southland Hospitals Face Massive COVID Backlog Despite Record-Breaking COVID Numbers
On Friday, January 7, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA, LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez delivers free in-home COVID exam kits given by the Los Angeles Unified School District at Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School. (Getty Images/Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“I’m cautiously hopeful and enthusiastic,” Jenna Schwartz, co-founder of Parents Supporting Teachers, an advocacy organization that helped push baseline testing closer to the start of the semester, said. “I believe we all need to remember that the next two weeks of school will demand a lot of patience and grace – as parents, teachers, administrators, and staff,” she concluded.
Los Angeles County schools are also introducing a new set of criteria in addition to the testing requirements. Outdoors and when social separation isn’t possible, staff and kids will be required to wear masks. Employees in the district will also be expected to enhance their mask quality, dumping cotton masks in favor of surgical masks such as N95 and KN95.
Booster injections are also highly recommended for all eligible individuals.
Other districts have proposed obligatory testing in the wake of LAUSD’s lead, despite restricted time restrictions — their semester begins on Tuesday, too.
Burbank Unified School District is one of them, scheduling an emergency meeting to explore their alternatives in such a short amount of time. While it is too late to mandate every kid to be tested, the district highly encourages all eligible students, staff, and teachers to be vaccinated and/or boosted before the start of the school year.
Testing has been a hot subject for BUSD in recent weeks, and it looks that parents lobbying for it are gaining traction, as one Burbank Unified board member put it, “Parents need it.” They’ve asked us many times. I believe it’s fair to say that logistically, we can’t do it right now.”
Long Beach Unified School District increased testing capacity as well, announcing the inauguration of a new facility on Santa Fe Avenue, near Cabrillo High School, on Monday. The facility has the capacity to test up to 3,000 patients each day.
With children’s safety and education in mind, it’s clear that school districts aren’t taking the outbreak lightly, despite claims suggesting the Omicron variety is less virulent but more highly transmissible.
MORE NEWS: Cal State Long Beach’s Spring Semester Will Begin Online
“At the end of the day, that’s the greatest place for kids to be, in a safe school atmosphere,” Schwartz added.
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The “california schools reopening guidelines” is a topic that has been trending on most news sites. It is important to note that the California Governor Jerry Brown has not yet said when school will be back in session.
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