LAUSD Launches On-Campus Vaccination Campaign; Partnership With Amazon For Struggling Graduates
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Unified School District's latest effort to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic will take place on two fronts – vaccinating students 12 to 15 years old, and helping financially struggling graduates work and attend community college.
Soon, vaccinations for LAUSD students will be as easy to find as an after-school activity.
"Starting next Monday we'll offer the opportunity for almost 300,000 students ages 12 through in our middle and high schools the opportunity to be vaccinated at their local school," Beutner said.
According to Beutner, more than a third of the district's students do not have a personal pediatrician, so vaccination teams will begin visiting about 20 campuses each day. It's expected the on-campus vaccination campaign will take about two weeks to visit each campus.
A parent or guardian is needed to be with the student at the time of vaccination, so clinic hours will start at noon and stretch into the early evening to accommodate working parents.
Vaccinations would be required to return to campus this fall, but Beutner says he expect the COVID-19 vaccine will at some point be added to the list of vaccinations each student is required to receive before the first day of school.
The district also announced a new partnership with Amazon to help graduates struggling financially to be able to work and still attend community college. Beutner says the percentage of students who go on to attend two-year colleges directly after graduation dropped from 39% in 2019 to 30% in 2020.
The new program will give LAUSD graduates who enroll full time one of several hundred Amazon jobs with a minimum $15 per hour wage, benefits, and flexible hours, along with access to Amazon resources like resume workshops and career-building information.