New school year begins for LAUSD on Monday
By Monday morning, classrooms at Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be filled with students and teachers.
The 2022-23 school year for LAUSD begins on Monday, marking the end of summer for students and educators.
The classrooms at Carpenter Community Charter School will be filled with eager and likely nervous students.
Over the last three years, there's been a lot of changes to the educational experience but this time around one thing has remained the sam:, the anxious rush to get everything prepared for the first day of school.
Mom and teacher Elizabeth Maikowski spent her Sunday shopping for school supplies with her son.
Her son Dylan is heading into the 7th grade and while he's not eager to give up his summer freedom, he's excited for a more normal school year.
"Yes, because I get to see my friends again. I get to see a teacher. I get to sit in a desk and not in front of a screen," Dylan Maikowski said.
Dylan's mother is certainly happy about her and her son going back to a more normal setting.
"This is the year. This is a full year where they are back fulltime. They get to enjoy their program, sports, extracurricular activities. Just be normal, be able to sit with their friends at the table, not six feet away from their friends," Elizabeth Maikowski said.
LAUSD is the second largest in the country. However, going into the new school year there's one big elephant elephant in the room: a shortage of teachers.
But LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced on CBS' Face The Nation that the district has hired over 1500 teachers to fill the local void.
LAUSD has seen a decline in enrollment but some of that is due to families moving or even choosing different options, like remote learning.
"Best to kind of have the stability and more of a structure by just staying in one place. And if anything changes we're already at home and we don't have to make any sudden moves," Pentene´ Woolen said.
The other concern for parents is how LAUSD and schools handle COVID outbreaks. Though parents want their kids to have a normal school experience, they also acknowledge the continuous risk of COVID-19.
"I think they've got it down pat. I think they know what they're doing. Lots of people are vaccinated. They have protocols. I'm not worried about it," Cyndi Elbaz said.