Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner has announced that classes will remain closed through the summer.
NBC Los Angeles reports the rest of the academic year, as well as summer school sessions, will be carried out through distance learning to deter the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Schools have been closed in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest district, for nearly a month, and Beutner says the district is working on holding a virtual graduation for high school seniors this year; officials are gathering input from students on how they'd like to proceed.
The district will conduct classes online for the rest of the school year and will not issue any failing grades for the spring semester.
“Students can work to improve their grades, but we don't want to penalize those who may not have had access to technology or may be experiencing difficulties at home,” Beutner says.
Summer classes will be held online in four-week blocks.
Beutner says the Los Angeles district also is working with community colleges to help students get from high school to college so they do not miss any important credits they need.
“We will not allow the closure of school facilities to close the doors of opportunity for young adults earning a high school diploma and starting college can provide for them,” Beutner says. “Like many issues at this time, we're trying to find a balance between helping students continue to learn and the sometimes harsh realities the crisis is bringing to the lives to so many of the students and families we serve.”
The district has been working with Amazon to improve online connections for students on certain platforms. The software being used initially was not built to handle 500,000 students using it at once.
The superintendent says about $4.5 million has been raised to help provide meals for families through its Grab and Go program, which has amounted to more than 7 million meals provided since schools were closed.
VIDEO from Superintendent Austin Beutner:
