The Los Angeles and San Diego school districts said they will begin the school year next month by offering only virtual classes as coronavirus cases in California increase.
Instruction will resume as scheduled on August 18 in Los Angeles and August 31 in San Diego, but will begin with an exclusively online presence, the San Diego and Los Angeles Unified School Districts announced in a joint statement Monday.
Both districts said they will return for in-person instruction “as soon as public health conditions allow.”
“This announcement represents a significant disappointment for the thousands of teachers, administrators, and support staff who looked forward to welcoming students in August,” the districts said in their joint statement. “Obviously, it is an even bigger disappointment for the many parents who are eager for their students to resume their education. Above all, this decision will impact our students in a way that researchers will take years to understand. ”
Districts said countries that have successfully “reopened schools safely” did so amid falling infection rates and available on-demand testing. California, they said, does not meet any of the criteria.
“The infection rates that have soared in recent weeks make it clear that the pandemic is not under control,” the districts said, while calling on the federal government to provide schools with the resources they need to reopen in a “responsible way. “
The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funds from schools that do not reopen for in-person instruction this fall. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVosPressley beats DeVos for reopening schools: ‘I would not trust you to take care of a house plant, much less my son’ Teachers confront Trump at the reopening of the school The battle for reopening of schools heats up MORE On Sunday, he renewed his pressure for schools to reopen.
“The rule should be that children return to school this fall,” DeVos said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that cases where there are “small outbreaks” should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
He also said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on school reopens “are intended to be flexible and should be applied as appropriate to the situation.”
California has been affected by a recent increase in coronavirus cases. The seven-day average of new cases per day was 8,664, as of Sunday. The state has reported a total of 320,804 cases and 7,017 deaths.
Updated at 2:50 pm
.
