LAUSD to Consider Delaying Enforcement of COVID Vaccine Mandate for Students

A child wears a face mask while attending an online class at a learning hub inside the Crenshaw Family YMCA during the Covid-19 pandemic in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 17, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES—In a move that would prevent more than 30,000 students from being forced back to remote learning, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board next week will consider delaying enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students until fall 2022.

The district’s mandate currently requires all students aged 12 and up to have received their second dose of vaccine by Dec. 19. Students taking part in extracurricular programs were required to receive their second dose by Oct. 31.

Students who fail to meet the mandate would be forced into remote-learning programs.

But in a statement Friday, the district announced that the Board of Education will meet Tuesday to consider delaying the mandate’s enforcement until the start of the fall semester next year.

The district’s mandate does not include students under age 12, who are only encouraged—but not required—to get vaccinated.

With an 86.5 percent compliance rate, more than 30,000 students who are failing to meet the mandate were in danger of being pushed into remote learning when classes resume in mid-January.

District officials said they will continue working to ensure all students have access to vaccines, and that their families receive the information they need “to make an informed choice” about vaccinating their children.

Even if the board delays enforcement of the vaccine mandate, the district will continue to require baseline and weekly testing of all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, through January. Beginning in February, only unvaccinated students will be required to undergo weekly testing.