Los Angeles teachers union members on Monday ratified an agreement to drop the indoor masking requirement at the nation’s second-largest school district.
Students and staff at the L.A. Unified School District will be able to shed their masks starting Wednesday under the agreement.
But indoor masking will continue for staff and students at early education centers and for programs serving only students 4 years old or younger.
Weekly coronavirus testing will also continue for all staff and students through the end of the school year.
Of the United Teachers Los Angeles members who voted, 84% cast their votes in favor of the agreement and 16% voted against it.
UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said keeping masks mandatory for the youngest students who can’t get vaccinated against COVID-19 was a priority.
“Our health and safety priorities in negotiations with the district were two-fold: to ensure the continuation of the weekly COVID-19 testing program that has helped keep our communities safe and to protect our youngest learners in early education programs who are not able to be vaccinated,” Myart-Cruz said in a statement. “The agreement achieves both of these critical goals.”
LAUSD had initially called for ending the indoor masking requirements in all students, including younger ones, when it announced plans last week to lift its mandate.
The move to ease masking requirements aligns the district with the L.A. County Department of Public Health and state health officials, who shifted to recommending masking at schools but no longer requiring them as of this month.
Though it’s no longer required at schools, authorities continue to strongly recommend that everyone masks up indoors.
Polling has also found that many parents support the masking requirement at schools.
A February poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley found that nearly two-thirds of California voters support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools.