The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will create six new online schools to accommodate students who they expect will enroll as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which is scheduled to become effective in September.
The new schools, which will be coded as alternative schools, will cater to students who are unable to attend classes in person or prefer remote learning, as well as unvaccinated students, who will not be permitted to attend classes on campus after the start of the next school year this fall, according to media reports.
“The opening of these new schools would provide families who are unable to send their students to in-person learning with a variety of quality choices for online learning,” a Feb. 8 LAUSD Board of Education report obtained by the Southern California Record stated. “Students attending one of the online schools will receive a robust education including curriculum aligned to the California State Standards and gain deep knowledge and experience in the theme they select.”
At a Feb. 8 LAUSD board meeting, chief of schools David Baca said the district’s existing online learning program, known as City of Angels, had some 17,000 students enrolled this year compared to only 1,500 the previous year.
But Sharon McKeeman, founder of the parents’ coalition Let Them Choose, is accusing LAUSD of creating the new online schools to pave the way to segregate and exclude students who don't comply with "a very new and unproven vaccine."
“We’re now in the endemic phase of this COVID-19 virus and there's clearly no reason to cut a child off from their education over this vaccine and it's illegal,” McKeeman told the Southern California Record. “It concerns me. That's why I'm peacefully pushing back on it so hard. We've seen LA Unified say lots of things but that doesn't mean they will follow through on it.”
LAUSD declined to comment.
Let Them Choose sued the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) over its student vaccine mandate and won however SDUSD was granted abeyance after filing an appeal. A hearing is set for March 16.
“There's still litigation pending against that with the law firm we work with and so it's highly likely that their mandate will be struck down before they are able to implement these new schools,” McKeeman said. “The 871 bill that is pending has not been passed so they can't count on the state stepping in and making this a legislated vaccine just yet.”
As previously reported, Senate Bill (SB) 871, proposed by state Sen. Richard Pan (D–Sacramento), would include the COVID-19 vaccine on a required school vaccine list and would do away with personal or religious exemptions completely.
“Their City of Angels schools is a complete failure and we know the teachers’ unions are heavily behind these agendas,” McKeeman added. “Nothing that LA Unified has done so far has shown willingness or capability of creating a quality, distance learning program for students, and ultimately students need to be in person on campus if they want to be with their peers and their teachers. LA Unified is extremely corrupt and they feel they can push these things through but we've seen a great awakening of parents and now we're even seeing students really empowered to peacefully stand up for their rights."