Schools in Los Angeles County will be allowed to reopen for a limited number of special education and English learners beginning Monday, Sept. 14, based on a revised public health order issued Wednesday, Sept. 2, according to Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis.
While Kindergarten through 12th grade school campuses will remain closed to the majority of students, those with individualized education plans, students learning English as a second language and those students requiring specialized in-school services or assessments will be among those allowed to return to campus in small groups, according to Davis.
Whether or not to move forward with such in-person classes is inevitably up to individual local districts, officials said.
“As long as schools can fully operate under the health officer orders, they can reopen (for these students),” Davis said, meaning schools will still need to follow public health guidelines for reopening as they welcome special education and English learners back into the classroom.
Special education students in particular had an especially tough time in the spring with distance learning, according to surveys of parents. Special education students have also been a continued concern among Los Angeles Unified School District officials as they looked to implement enhanced distance learning schedules that began two weeks ago.
Jasmine Gonzalez, whose daughter Teal Phillips, 17, is a special-education student at Chatsworth High, was elated for a potential return to normalcy.
Phillips has cerebral palsy, which restricts her to a wheelchair. She’s also nonverbal. The news could mean that Phillips can return to a specialized classroom equipped for her needs. It also means she can receive the in-person instruction and aid she requires.
“I am so thrilled and very hopeful,” Gonzalez said. “Teal is over the moon with excitement.”
Eric Peres, a teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District for more than 20 years who heads Chatsworth’s alternate curriculum for special needs said he would like to see LAUSD and the teachers union come up with a safe and productive plan.
“Everybody wants to be back at school,” Peres said. “We just want to make sure it’s done correctly and not rushed.”
The announcement doesn’t mean parents of these students can necessarily plan on sending their kids to school on Sept. 14, which will ultimately depend on the district.
Debra Duardo, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools, called the decision “encouraging.”
“Our students with special needs and English Learners are among the most vulnerable during this time of distance learning,” she said in a statement. “I applaud Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer for acknowledging the challenges facing educators in ensuring all our students receive the services they need and deserve to succeed in school. My sense is that districts countywide welcome this opportunity to provide vital services and will ensure that the Public Health protocols and directives are strictly followed.”
A spokeswoman for LAUSD said in an email shortly after the county’s announcement only that the district “is evaluating the most recent guidance.” She would not say whether reopening schools to these select cohorts of students would require further negotiations with the teachers union.
A spokesperson for United Teachers Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
Some advocacy groups, meanwhile, expressed cautious optimism over the county’s announcement.
“It’s a positive step that the county is opening the door for students with high needs for whom distance learning isn’t working to safely receive instruction and services in person on campus,” Lisa Mosko, director of advocacy for special education and educational rights for the parent advocacy group Speak UP, said in a statement.
She noted, however, that it remains to be seen whether the district will choose to go this route. “We encourage the district to explore all avenues to safely meet the needs of students with disabilities and English Learners,” Mosko said. “These vulnerable kids cannot be left behind.”
Officials at Long Beach Unified School District said they must first adopt their own plan to offer those services.
The district, for its part, is “reviewing the guidance carefully and will confer with Long Beach Health and Human Services,” spokesperson Chris Eftychiou said in an email. He said the district would announce its plans “if we intend to provide in-person instruction at some point.”
As for reopening elementary schools, Davis said the Pre-Kindergarten to 6th grade waiver program that could allow them to open sooner, based on case rates, would not yet be available. Davis said on Wednesday, the county would monitor how the first phase of school reopening go as officials decide when to make available the waiver program.
It was unclear whether the waiver program would rely on the previous metric of requiring case rates to decrease below 200 cases per 100,000 people or Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new four-tiered system.
Based on the state’s new color-coded system announced last Friday, L.A. County is currently in Tier 1 representing the most restrictive level.
Currently, the county’s case rate averaged 10 per 100,000 people per day over the past week, down from 13 the week before. It is still above 7, which is the threshold for moving to Tier 2.
