3 South Bay-Area School Districts Reopen Campuses This Week For Their Youngest Students
TORRANCE (CBSLA) — Three school districts in the South Bay reopened this week to students, after being closed during a particularly steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the region.
Some of the youngest students in Torrance, Redondo Beach, and El Segundo Unified school districts returned to campus for in-person learning. The three districts also resumed in-person learning for students with special needs and student athletic conditioning.
El Segundo Unified says in order for students in grades 4-6 to be able to return back to campuses in a similar hybrid schedule, Los Angeles County's COVID-19 case rates would need to be much lower to the point of just 25 per 100,000.
For middle and high school students to be allowed to return to campuses, the county must enter the state's red tier of reopening, when case rates are 7 per 100,000.
Officials in Redondo Beach say they are holding vaccine Q&A sessions for their staff, in anticipation of reaching Phase 1B of the state's vaccination schedule, when educators will be able to receive the vaccine. The district says several staff members have already been vaccinated due to their unique job titles, but did not give details on who was eligible.
Torrance Unified says it's also working with the city to facilitate vaccine distribution to its employees, which is expected to happen sometime this month.
The county's largest school district, neighboring Los Angeles Unified, remains closed for in-person learning and has not yet set a date for when students might return.
