LVUSD sixth-graders return

Teacher vaccines begin March 1



LAWN SIGNS—The Agoura High School Parent Faculty Club distributes Class of 2021 senior lawn signs to the community on Feb. 19. It’s hoped the high schoolers will be back in class prior to their June graduation.

LAWN SIGNS—The Agoura High School Parent Faculty Club distributes Class of 2021 senior lawn signs to the community on Feb. 19. It’s hoped the high schoolers will be back in class prior to their June graduation.

Already hosting some of its students in a live classroom setting, the Las Virgenes Unified School District announced it will allow additional kids back on campuses starting March 1.

Los Angeles County health officials announced last week that students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade will be allowed to return classes.

Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest school system, only recently addressed the outcry to reopen by allowing some special needs students to return while all others stay home. LVUSD, its neighbor to the west, is on the verge of bringing back all students through grade six.

The county allowed the latest reopening based on a virus case rate of less than 25 positive tests per 100,000 people. Residents currently are testing positive at a rate of 12 per 100,000.

“We could have gone aggressive and resumed on Feb. 22 . . . but we played it a little more conservative and gave it a week,” LVUSD superintendent of schools Dan Stepenosky said.

Photos courtesy of Kim Tosi Hamilton

Photos courtesy of Kim Tosi Hamilton

“The number ended up being lower than we thought, so we could have pushed the reopening up sooner, but our kids have been through so much we decided to stay the course.”

LVUSD will have 3,600 of its 10,500 students in class by the beginning of next month. The district’s campuses have been open since fall to some students: those with special needs and elementary school students in kindergarten through third grade.

Sixth-graders are being allowed back on campus in the county as long as they are in elementary school. Currently, only the Mariposa School of Global Education has sixth-grade classes on campus. In the rest of the district, sixth-graders attend middle school and that level is being asked to continue staying home

“The parents understand the dynamic. We haven’t had too much pressure from them yet,” Stepenosky said. “Middle and high school families are definitely interested. The next step is if we get to seven cases per 100,000, then we’re in the zone for middle and high school. We’re examining models and plans right now.”

The district has spent more than $1.8 million to outfit its campuses with thermal scanners, air filters and other means of protecting students and staff from the coronavirus in the classroom.

Craig Hochhaus, president of the Las Virgenes Educators Association, the LVUSD teachers union, said many educators are happy to be headed back to the classroom, but some still have concerns about their health.

“Like any place, you have some employees who have health issues. Most teachers want to get back to the classroom. We just want to do it safely,” Hochhaus said.

“When the district is directing (teachers) to come back and it falls within the guidelines of L.A. County, they have to come back. If they don’t, they have to go out on leave. It’s a really tough spot to be in. The teachers are tormented.”

Shots for teachers

The biggest roadblock to teachers feeling safe is vaccine availability. The union and the district have been pushing to get educators moved higher on the priority list for those waiting on shots, and this week their request was answered.

On March 1, three additional sectors in both L.A. and Ventura counties—education and childcare, emergency services and first responders, and food and agriculture workers—will be eligible for the vaccine. The education group includes bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will set aside 10% of its weekly allotment of vaccine doses— about 75,000—for education workers starting next month.

Los Angeles Unified School Superintendent Austin Beutner said this week he hopes to see a wider reopening at his school district by April. LAUSD and its teachers union have been at odds over vaccine distribution as a requisite for reopening.