BEVERLY HILLS—On Sunday, February 28, the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) announced that in-person instruction for TK-2 students will be moved to March 8 and March 9 for students in grades 3-5.
The district previously announced that in-person instruction for grades TK-2 would resume on March 4, but postponed the date after the Beverly Hills Education Association (BHEA) asked the district to rescind its directive for employees to return to work.
“This weekend we attended mediation with the Public Employment Relations Board and the BHEA following their legal action against the District in relation to the physical reopening of our Elementary schools,” Superintendent Michael Bregy said in an official announcement. “The safe reopening of our schools is a shared commitment of all stakeholders – The Board of Education, Administration, the Beverly Hills Education Association, Teachers, and the wider community.”
On Thursday, February 25, BHEA announced that they filed an Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Board claiming that BHUSD violated their agreement that grades TK-2 would not return to in-person instruction until the Los Angeles County COVID-19 case rates were below 10.
“The District and BHEA are pleased to announce that as a result of a productive mediation process this weekend, we have tentatively (pending BHUSD Board of Education and BHEA Leadership approval) resolved to follow mutually developed new safety measures that will benefit students, teachers, and our entire BHUSD community,” Bregy stated.
The BHUSD agreed to give teachers a few additional days to receive their COVID-19 vaccine and will prioritize in-person elementary teachers as a result.
