Reopening, Equity, and Safety

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Monday, March 22, 2021 LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and it will be held using the Zoom webinar platform.  To register in advance for the meeting, click here.  The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here.

First up, Jeff Baier will give a School Reopening update.  This is a discussion item and there is no presentation available yet to review under agenda H.1.  I expect the presentation to cover the status of reopening school 5 days a week this Spring in light of the new guidance from the CDC regarding safe distancing changing from 6ft to 3ft, among a general update about how the rest of our physical school reopening has been progressing. 

Next up, ​Greg Drummond and Bhavna Narula will give an Equity Task Force Update.  This is an action item and their presentation and supporting documentation can be found under agenda item H.2 using the link provided above.  This specific update focuses on 1 of 9 of LASD's Equity Policy Focus Areas involving curriculum and instructional materials.  Staff is asking the Board to adopt a framework to guide instruction of equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-bias, and social justice. In their supporting documentation they show the barriers we had to meet our focus of adopting age-appropriate curriculum and instructional materials that teach such, and recommendations for the District to overcome those barriers, including adopting a framework outlined in the Social Justice Standards supporting documentation.  I look forward to hearing more about the work the Equity Task Force has been doing and am pleased with the work I have seen so far.  

Then, Jeff will present a Resolution Denouncing Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  This is an action and the resolution can be found under agenda item H.3.  The Board is asked to approve this resolution in support of our AAPI allies to condemn hateful actions that they have historically been subjected to and more recently subjected to in reaction to the COVID-19.     

Mr. Kenyon will next present our Collective Bargaining Agreement with CSEA (our staff union).  This is an action item and the agreement and supporting documentation can be found under agenda item H.4.   This is the collective bargaining agreement with LASD non certificated staff (not teachers).  This agreement gives them the same salary increase (2%) we agreed to for the teachers a couple of weeks ago and extends the definition of family illness to include COVID related purposes.  The Board is asked to approve the agreement.  

Ms. Erin Green will then present LASD's Comprehensive School Safety Plans.  This is an action item and her presentation and the plans for all 9 schools and our District Office can be found under agenda item H.5.  Every year, each site must update their Comprehensive Safety Plan and it must be presented to the Board for its approval.  It covers physical and mental safety and, in a word, is comprehensive.  Check out your personal school site's plan to learn more about what has been done and what is in store.

Lastly, Board members and Staff will report on the meetings they participated in during CSBA Legislative Action Week.  Sadly, I had technical glitches which meant I never received Zoom invitations for the meetings I signed up for, but I have been advocating consistently with our higher up elected officials since the beginning of this pandemic in the best interests of LASD safe school reopening including, most recently, for opening vaccinations to educators and better guidance on safe distancing in classrooms.  

Please note, these are just the highlights of what to expect at our 3/22/2021 meeting.  You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions. ​