LA Health Officials Say Students Will Likely Not Return To On-Campus Instruction In August
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — It is still unclear what the upcoming school year will look like, but Los Angeles County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said it is likely students will not return to on-campus instruction in August.
"With the uncertainty that we face right now in our county, everyone needs to have a plan B around the reopening," Ferrer said.
Her words came just hours after President Trump tweeted that the CDC guidelines for schools are "impractical" and that he "may cut funding if the schools don't reopen."
"The real problem for L.A. county is the spike in cases," Jackie Goldberg, a Los Angeles Unified School District board member, said.
Goldberg says the administration needs to give more to public schools — not less — if he wants them to reopen.
"He can't abdicate his responsibility for helping us do testing, which is a critical part of reopening schools," Goldberg said.
Fellow board member Scott Schmerleson said the district is looking at hybrid learning, but will defer to county health professionals.
"We have to make sure our kids are safe. We have to make sure our employees are safe. They were saying kids are less likely to catch COVID, but how about their teachers?" Schmerleson said.
Governor Newsom wouldn't address the president's tweets but did say his focus lies with keeping teachers and students safe.
"And yes I fear that more than I fear a tweet," Newsom said.
Alicia Coulter has three teenage daughters and a husband who teaches at LAUSD.
"I do believe that opening with options would be the best option," said Coulter.
She believes its best for kids to get back to campus with safety protocols in place. She says the learning gap will be worse for children of color.
"We have a population of kids that are homeless and we have a population of kids where the only time they eat is when they are at school. The only time they have peace is at school, and to defy them that option is not healthy," she said.
Zerlinde Johnson has one child in LAUSD and will not be sending her son to school with our current infection rate.
"With that number of cases, I can't see anyone who would feel comfortable sending their kids back to school. I am not even sending my kid to summer camp," Johnson said.
Despite Trump's threat, Governor Newsom did say today that California was able to secure $5 billion from the federal government to help us safely reopen our schools.
