L.A. school board delays enforcement of student vaccine mandate to fall 2022

The Los Angeles school board agreed Tuesday to delay enforcement of its student COVID-19 vaccine mandate from Jan. 10, 2022, to fall 2022.

The decision came after interim Supt. Megan K. Reilly laid out a plan Friday to push back the deadline because the district was confronted with the reality that about 28,000 students had not complied and under the rules would be barred from in-person schooling and enrolled in independent study.

So far, 87% of L.A. Unified students 12 and older have shown proof of vaccination, a high rate that Reilly cited when she proposed the delay. But the district’s independent study program, City of Angels, is overwhelmed with about 16,000 students — and district officials did not want to send so many children back to online learning.

Incoming Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who was in Los Angeles on Tuesday, weighed in on the issue during a news conference, calling the move “the right decision” considering the fluid circumstances of the pandemic and high vaccination rate.

“The conditions that the board is facing today, and the policy adjustments are not, in my opinion, a reversal of decisions made,” he said, adding that he viewed it as “an evolution of the previous board position” that recognizes what is best for students.

United Teachers of Los Angeles also voiced support for the delayed enforcement at the school board meeting. UTLA Secretary Arlene Inouye said the union encourages the district to increase education through vaccination outreach campaigns to students and families.

“We support the district’s student and employee vaccinations requirements that remain our community’s best line of defense against COVID-19,” Inouye said. “We also understand the huge challenges and potentially disastrous impact that transferring 30,000 students into an online independent study program would create for our students and their families.”

On Monday, a judge upheld the district’s mandate after two parent organizations challenged it in court. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff denied a request for a preliminary injunction, stating that the district’s mandate to protect the health and safety of students outweighed the difficulties of remote learning.

Students who participate in athletics will still need to get vaccinated in order to participate.

Other school districts in California, including Oakland Unified and Culver City Unified, have also opted to not enforce or push back their original mandate deadlines.

In a related move, the board also voted to expand the student vaccination mandate to charter schools that are authorized by the district. While some independent charters have voluntarily opted to implement the mandates, El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills opted to not implement the policy.

David Hussey, executive director of El Camino Real Charter High, said the charter board’s decision to not require student vaccines came after more than two hours of input from the community, including teachers, students and parents.

“They just decided at this point they would rather follow local and state guidelines,” Hussey said. The school, which is already aligned with the district’s COVID vaccine mandate for employees, will comply with the latest directive for students, Hussey said.

Inouye said UTLA also supports the district’s directive to apply the student vaccination mandate to independent charter schools.

“It’s been disturbing to learn that the district’s COVID health mandates have not equally applied to all students and staff at independent charters, and we are encouraged to see that the district is taking positive steps to address this problem,” Inouye said.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.