The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has reported that over 15,000 students have not been heard from since the March 16 closure of schools due to coronavirus concerns. An estimated 40,000 additional students fail to check-in daily.
Even as LAUSD leaders have been working diligently to accommodate the needs of teachers and students as it transitions to an all-digital distance learning format – student access to technology and understanding its use remains an issue.
A majority of the 560,000 students enrolled in LAUSD are from low-income families with limited access to computers, wireless technology and the internet. My district is home to the largest amount of LAUSD schools with 170.
This lack of access can be detrimental to the ability of a student to stay current with homework and assignments forcing them to play catch up when school resumes, or worse, experience exponential learning loss.