MOTION-- Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that schools in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the state will not be permitted to return to in-classroom learning when school resumes this fall. The Los Angeles Unified School District and many private schools have been working diligently to develop effective distance learning plans that work for all students and their families, but significant concerns have nonetheless arisen about excessive absenteeism and reduced student engagement, among other things. Many parents throughout Los Angeles are left with few good options if they need to work outside the home and are forced to leave their children unsupervised during the school day. Moreover, distance learning has created tremendous inequities because, among other reasons, some families have poor access to the Internet and/or inadequate computer hardware to allow school programming to be effective.
For households that do not have the ability to provide a supervised environment or adequate connectivity, city facilities could be utilized to allow their children to flourish in the distance learning model. Los Angeles City parks have already proven they can run programming safely during the pandemic by offering in-person camps for youth this summer with appropriate distancing, cleaning and other public health protocols. Our parks and libraries also have excellent WiFi access that would be of great benefit to students participating in distance learning.
I THEREFORE MOVE that the Council instruct the Chief Legislative Analyst, in consultation with the Department of Recreation and Parks and the City Library, to report back to the Council in thirty days with a plan to provide appropriate staffing, supervision and supplemental programming at parks and libraries to provide Los Angeles students with alternative learning environments while distance learning is mandated.
I FURTHER MOVE that the Council instruct the City Administrative Officer to report on funding sources for the costs associated with this program, including the federal CARES funding for COVID19 responses, as well as the unappropriated balance Reserve for Preservation of City Services, Reinvestment in Disadvantaged Communities and Communities of Color, Reimagining Public Safety Service Delivery, and Target Local Hire (TLH) Program.
I FURTHER MOVE that the Council instruct the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Library Department to report on the availability of WiFi at each potential distance learning site and whether the WiFi at each site would be capable of serving students in a distance learning capacity.