Los Angeles schools will resume some services next week for a small percentage of students with special needs, Supt. Austin Beutner announced Monday.

The state’s largest school system had been among the last in the region to maintain a hard shutdown that halted all in-person services in early December. The district’s move will partially address a growing outcry among many families to reopen campuses as much as possible.

“In anticipation of a more complete reopening of schools in April, we will begin next week to offer child care, one-on-one and small group instruction, services for students with special needs and a return to athletic conditioning,” Beutner said in remarks broadcast Monday morning. “Your school principal will have more information on this during the course of the week.”

For about two months in the fall, L.A. Unified had offered many of these services, but shut them down when a devastating COVID-19 surge took hold in Southern California, straining the medical system. At the time, in-person services and instruction were reaching fewer than 1% of the 465,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The district also was relying on staff who volunteered to work outside of the normal school day.

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