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As we approach the start of spring semester, facts on the ground continue to shift. Look for regular updates as information is available.

New info on Zoom instruction

Friday’s UTLA email outlined the impact of the new “modified quarantine” on Zoom instruction: In most cases, educators will no longer need to provide Zoom access to instruction because most students will no longer be quarantining at home after a close contact with someone with COVID.

Under the revised guidance sent to LAUSD administrators, there are four groups of students who are not eligible for the new “modified quarantine” and will still quarantine at home.

• Adult Ed students

• Early Ed students

• K-12 students who can’t wear masks for medical reasons

• K-12 close contact students who weren’t wearing masks during their close contact
  

These students must be provided Zoom access to classroom instruction while they are quarantining at home, consistent with our September bargaining agreement.

The above covers students who have been identified as close contacts — not students who have tested positive for COVID. For students who test positive for COVID, teachers are not obligated to provide access to classroom instruction. If a student has tested positive, they are required to isolate, and they are ill or actively fighting off the virus. In other words, these students need to rest and get well.

If your principal is insisting that you provide Zoom access to your classroom for students who have tested positive and are at home, contact your Chapter Chair and/or your UTLA Area representative.

Summary of new isolation & quarantine protocols

Below are the broad strokes of the LAUSD’s new isolation and quarantine protocols, which aligns with the latest LA County guidelines.

ISOLATION is for positive COVID cases. QUARANTINE is for close contact cases.

PROTOCOLS FOR VACCINATED & UNVACCINATED

• If a staff member or student tests positive for COVID, they would isolate for 10 days. If asymptomatic on Day 5, they could take an antigen test. If that test is negative, the staff or student could return to school on Day 6. Here is the district flowchart for isolation protocols.
  

• If a staff member or student is identified as a close contact with a COVID-infected person and is asymptomatic, they would test on Day 0. If the test is negative, they are eligible for what LAUSD and county authorities are calling “modified quarantine.” “Modified quarantine” means they can physically work at or attend school, but must test again on Day 5, monitor for symptoms for 10 days, and wear a medical-grade mask for 10 days (employees will be required to wear a medical-grade mask at all times). They will not need to stay home unless they test positive. NOTE: If the student is unvaccinated, the school administrator would need to attest that the student had been appropriately masked throughout the contact for the student to be eligible for modified quarantine. The district is working on a flowchart for quarantine protocols.
  
  

Testing & masking

Baseline testing for all staff and students: The district is requiring that all students and staff upload a negative COVID test result to the Daily Pass system before physically returning to a school campus for the spring semester.

• Employees can either upload the results of an external PCR test or get tested at an LAUSD testing site by 11 am on January 10.
  
  

• Employees who get tested before January 10 will receive two hours of pay at their hourly rate of pay after filling out the district form (find the link to the form on this district document).
  
  

• Employees without an uploaded test result by the morning of January 10 will be required to get tested at a district site by 11 am that day, in order to receive results by Tuesday morning.

Weekly testing: After the baseline COVID testing, LAUSD will continue testing all students and staff, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, through at least the month of January. We will demand that the program be extended if cases continue to surge.

Upgraded masks: Under county health guidelines, the district is required to provide, and employees are required to wear, medical-grade surgical masks at all schools and worksites, and the district is recommending that all students wear medical-grade surgical masks (the county does not require the upgraded masks for students unless they are in modified quarantine). The upgraded masks will be available for all staff and students and should have already been delivered to all schools and work sites. Staff and students will have the option of wearing their own masks, but masks worn by staff or students in modified quarantine must be medical-grade standard and not made of cloth.

If you tested positive over the break: Upload your PCR results to Daily Pass as soon as possible, and the LAUSD Community Engagement team (213-725-5637) will contact you for next steps.