![]() Some families who are unable to send their children to in-person school don’t have internet access at home or might have limited computing skills, she added. ![]() The district, she said, is simultaneously pushing children to return to school in person while also encouraging them to stay online by directing resources toward this more permanent expansion. The district is sending conflicting messages, said Evelyn Aleman, a parent in the district who leads the Latino parent group Our Voice/Nuestra Voz. Following years will rely on state funding.Īs plans proceed, some parents are raising questions. The district plans to cover the cost of nonteaching staff and resources with federal Covid-19 relief funds for the first two years, up to $16.2 million per year. LA Unified’s independent study less chaotic, but parental complaints persistĮach new school will enroll up to 2,500 students and will have a distinct academic theme. It currently enrolls nearly 18,000 students, many of whom the district expects to continue online next school year, in addition to those who remain unvaccinated. The Virtual Academy opened this fall as the district’s independent study option that was required by the state. In the meantime, school officials and parents are asking about what changes to expect and what lasting impact the new schools will have on the district, which is already navigating staffing shortages and declining enrollment.Ĭurrently, City of Angels houses the district’s Virtual Academy, which provides remote learning for families unable or unwilling to send their children to school in person. We need to recognize that and be honest about it.”ĭistrict officials will unveil plans for the schools in a few weeks, and enrollment will begin sometime in March. “It worked in some instances, but it failed in others. “City of Angels was a necessary step that needed to be taken to at least maintain some degree of connection - the tissue that would connect the child and the family to the school system,” Carvalho said. Stay up-to-date Sign-up below to receive breaking news alerts from EdSource by text message. The district will build on lessons learned from this year’s independent study program, which was put together quickly to meet state and community needs, he added. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in an interview with EdSource that the new online schools are a chance to create a more rigorous and robust online learning environment for students, akin to in-person school. The district is still in the planning stages as it navigates what the structure and curriculum will look like. Los Angeles Unified’s board recently approved the proposal to create up to six online schools. It will go into effect for the upcoming school year. The vaccine mandate, meant to slow the spread of Covid-19, will prohibit unvaccinated students from coming onto school campuses for in-person instruction, although students can enroll in independent study. While City of Angels will continue in some form, there also will be new online schools that will divide students into smaller, more manageable schools that will each have their own administrators. This year, it enrolled nearly 10 times the number of students it did prior to the pandemic. The district’s independent study program, City of Angels, was the main option for students who didn’t return to in-person instruction in the fall. The schools will take the pressure off the district’s current independent study program, which was inundated with students this school year after the state’s distance learning statute expired last summer. To accommodate an expected increase in the number of students in remote learning once its school vaccine mandate takes effect, the Los Angeles Unified School District is creating new online schools that will open in the fall.
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