LAUSD Survey: Half Of Student Families Reluctant To Return

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - As Los Angeles Unified campuses prepare to reopen next month after a yearlong closure due to COVID-19, a new survey Monday shows that only about half of families are seemingly ready to return their children to the classroom.

The initial 10% of survey responses from families of
465,000 K-12 students in the second largest school system in America showed more than half of parents will opt to continue with full-time remote learning when LAUSD campuses reopen.

In total, 51% of those surveyed chose the in-person hybrid option, and support for returning to class decreased from the elementary level (62%) to high school (33%).

Supt. Austin Beutner said the results underscore a greater
reluctance among parents who live in communities hardest hit by the virus, which he said are the same communities where people are struggling to make ends meet.

"The trauma, anxiety and very real concern about the virus isn't
going away just because a few politicians declare it's time to reopen,'' Beutner said in his weekly address Monday. ``It will take time to heal and for the communities we serve to trust the government to protect them after the tragedies over the last many months."

According to Beutner, nearly 80% of the families in LAUSD live at or below the poverty level, with three-quarters saying they have had someone in their household lose work due to the virus.

Parents with advocacy group SpeakUp said some of them voted no because of unanswered questions.

"I voted no because it hasn't been communicated to me as a parent of a special needs child what that class is going to look like for my son's safety," said Renee Bailey.

"If would be worth it to send them back if they had that option of sending them back for more hours and learning actual learning, instead of being on Zoom," said Maribel Campos, another SpeakUp parent.