Los Angeles Unified School District Lifts Mask Mandate For Kids, Employees After Tentative Agreement With Teachers’ Union

deadline.com:

Los Angeles Unified School District students and staff will be able to remove their masks indoors beginning Wednesday. The nation’s second-largest school district announced the news today after reaching agreements with its labor unions.“I strongly support ending the indoor mask requirement and am committed to continuing to uphold our science-based approach to COVID-19 safety and protocols,” said new Superintendent Alberto M.

Carvalho in a statement. “I want to personally thank our students, employees and families for their support and patience. We know some in our school communities and offices will continue to wear masks, while others may not.

Please consider your situation and do what is best for you or your child. Now that this important issue is behind us, it is time to focus on each student’s full academic potential.”The state of California and Los Angeles County both lifted the mask- wearing mandate for school campuses on March 12.

But the LAUSD kept its requirement in place due to a clause in its labor contract with the teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles, which required mask-wearing through the end of the semester.Only after the lifting of the state and county requirements, however, did the district begin talks with UTLA and other labor groups, announcing Friday that it had reached an agreement to lift the requirement.