Los Angeles schools, teachers' union reach tentative deal to reopen schools

[March 10, 2021]  (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers' union reached a tentative deal for children to return to school, as coronavirus containment measures are relaxed.

Under the plans, preschool and elementary school students will be able to return in mid-April, and secondary school students will return at the end of April.

"The agreement provides for a hybrid model combining online and in-person instruction, with students remaining in small, stable cohorts while on campus to help prevent the spread of COVID-19," a joint statement by the district superintendent, Austin Beutner, and the union president, Cecily Myart-Cruz, said.
 

The agreement was contingent on teacher vaccinations against COVID-19, extensive health measures and the county's impending exit from California's most restrictive tier of health regulations.

Social distancing dividers for students are seen in a classroom at St. Benedict School, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Montebello, near Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 14, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

"The agreement is subject to the approval by the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education and ratification by the UTLA membership. If approved by both parties, the contract will be in effect through June 30, 2021", the joint statement added https://bit.ly/3t6lkWI.

California's governor said earlier this month that he and Democratic lawmakers had reached a deal to fund the reopening of schools for students up to second grade, as the numbers of new COVID-19 cases in the state and country had dropped.

California's $6.6 billion budget package marked an effort to get school children back in class after having been confined to home learning in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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