LAUSD Closures Extended - potentially through the end of the school year

Schools in Los Angeles will remain closed until May 1 in the ongoing effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Superintendent Austin Beutner released a statement on Monday March 23rd announcing the extension of the closures and stating the district will provide additional updates well before May 1 on what comes next.

Beutner held a press conference Monday March 23rd where he announced a plan to ramp up the district’s capacity to deliver online learning for nearly 600,000 students, stating he's made a $100 million emergency purchase toward securing a laptop or tablet device for every student and training for teachers and families to better support the estimated 100,000 district students who lack home internet access. Beutner said that around a quarter of the $100 million, which will come out of district reserves and other resources like bond dollars, will be used for teacher technology training.

Just a week after Beutner's announcement, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, sent a letter to School District Officials stating California public school campuses are unlikely to reopen for the remainder of the academic school year. In his letter, Thurmond wrote “This is in no way to suggest that school is over for the year, but rather we should put all efforts into strengthening our delivery of education through distance learning.”

If you are a school community member with ideas for how to best navigate these “uncharted waters”, the district has set up an email hotline: suggestions@lausd.net