LAUSD Staff Scraps Plan To Extend 2021-22 School Year
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles Unified School District officials Monday scrapped a proposal to extend the 2021-22 school year by as much as two weeks, citing a lack of support among teachers, administrators and other stakeholders.
According to a staff report released a day prior to Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, a survey conducted in late April found 75% of teachers and 62% of administrators calling for no change to the 2021-22 instructional calendar.
Because of the lack of support, staff will ask the board to approve a traditional 180-day instructional calendar for the coming school year.
The idea of extending the school year was originally proposed as a way to help recover from learning loss during the current year after students spent much of the year learning remotely.
Plans initially called for adding one week to the instructional calendar in August, and another in January.
Superintendent Austin Beutner said the weeks would be split "between time for teachers and school staff to plan and participate in additional training and time for students to process the trauma and anxiety they've experienced the past year and work on learning fundamentals."
Under the proposal going to the board Tuesday, the first day of instruction for the fall semester for most campuses would be Aug. 17, with the second semester beginning Jan. 10. Winter recess would be from Dec. 20 through Friday, Jan. 7. Spring recess would be April 11-15.
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