An emergency meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District board was called for Friday morning to consider the district’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
So far, no cases of COVID-19 have been connected to the second-largest school district in the United States. LAUSD schools have remained open during the pandemic.
Several districts throughout California have opted to shut down classes, including those in San Francisco and Ventura County. The first California district to close was Northern California’s Elk Grove Unified.
“An emergency is defined as a work stoppage, crippling activity or other activity that impairs public health, safety or both,” according to the open session agenda items for the emergency meeting, which will be held at 7 a.m.
On Thursday, United Teachers Los Angeles, the largest teachers’ union for the district, called for LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to close schools by Monday due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The open session item for Friday’s meeting that “an emergency situation exists” suggested that the board would be voting on whether to shut down LAUSD schools.
There are more than 700,000 students in LAUSD schools and about 60,000 paid employees in the district, a representative for the district said.
Source: NBC Los Angeles