Los Angeles Unified School District prepares for possible school closures as negotiations continue ahead of looming strike
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is continuing late-night contract negotiations on Monday to avert a looming strike and keep campuses open for hundreds of thousands of students. Talks may continue throughout the night.
On Sunday, the district reached tentative contract agreements with two unions representing teachers and administrators.
Even though two of the unions have reached agreements, if an SEIU Local 99 deal isn’t reached by the deadline, all three unions will strike, shutting down schools and leaving 400,000 students, along with their parents, in the lurch.
In an update at 11 p.m. on Monday, LAUSD said, “Los Angeles Unified and SEIU Local 99 are still in negotiations and talks may continue throughout the night. We will notify families by 6:00 AM on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, if schools will be open. If the strike goes forward, Los Angeles Unified schools will be closed to students. This includes Early Education centers.”
LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest school system, serves roughly 400,000 students daily, providing education, meals and child care.
What happens if the strike happens on Tuesday?
District officials launched a dedicated website where students, parents and others could keep tabs on the negotiations and find available resources, including food distribution sites, learning and mental health resources, alternative child care options, as well as tech support for devices and connectivity.
In the event of a strike, all LAUSD schools will be closed to students, including Early Education centers. If this is the case, families will be notified through district messaging systems, email and phone notifications and the district website. LAUSD says families will be notified by 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Anyone with questions can contact LAUSD’s Family Hotline at (213) 443-1300, or email [email protected]. For more information, visit schoolupdates.lausd.org.
In lieu of school breakfast and lunch, LAUSD will open food distribution centers with grab-and-go meals for students at select campuses. A full list of locations and hours is available on the district website.
Families can find a list of free, community-based child supervision programs on the district’s website. The programs are available for children ages 5 to 17 based on available space. LAUSD says its partners cannot accommodate students with moderate-to-severe health issues or children under the age of 4 due to staffing limitations.
Families are encouraged to contact locations directly to confirm hours and availability.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks is also prepared to offer free programming at 30 recreation centers from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on April 14-16. The program will be available to elementary school students from first to fifth grade. Slots are first registered, first served. Parents can register at recreation.parks.lacity.gov.
To support continued learning during potential school closures, students can find 10-day student lessons on the district website.
What union still needs to reach a deal with LAUSD?
SEIU Local 99, which represents custodians, food workers, special education assistants and bus drivers, is still negotiating. If they are unable to come to a consensus, tens of thousands of workers will go on strike starting Tuesday, and teachers have pledged to stand with the union in a sympathy strike.
“We will continue to meet with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 99 with the intent to reach an agreement that would allow us to keep schools open on Tuesday, April 14,” LAUSD shared in a statement on Sunday.
The group is requesting higher salaries and more staffing for safer classrooms.
Eyewitness News spoke to a mother with two kids in LAUSD who is also a special education assistant. She shared that her union doesn’t want to strike and hopes to come to an agreement.
“What they’re offering continues to keep us below the poverty line. So we’re asking for wages that put us a little slightly above the poverty line. As you know, cost of living just continues to increase, especially living in Los Angeles County. It’s almost unlivable,” said Jazmin Araujo-Vargas. “Most of our members can’t afford a one-bedroom home or a one-bedroom apartment in L.A., so we’re not keeping up with cost of living.”
SEIU Local 99 will continue striking every day, starting on Tuesday, until a deal is made with the district. The teachers union said it will stand with them in solidarity, potentially impacting the school days ahead.
What labor unions have already reached tentative deals with LAUSD?
Over the weekend, LAUSD reached a tentative agreement with the Associated Administrators Los Angeles (AALA)/Teamsters 2010 that will increase their members’ salary by 11.65% over two years with a reopener in the third year of the agreement.
The United Teachers Los Angeles Union (UTLA) also reached a tentative agreement on Sunday with the district.
“It’s been a long road to get here, so I feel pretty good about today,” said Armaghan Khan, a science teacher and member of the UTLA bargaining team.
The district’s two-year contract agreement with UTLA increases salary scales for union members by 11.65% and increases the beginning teacher salary to $77,000 a year. It also includes more student mental health counselors, four weeks of district-paid parental leave and reduced class sizes for Special Education classes.
As a strike loomed, the Los Angeles Unified School District launched a website where students and parents could keep tabs on the negotiations and find available resources including food distribution sites, learning and mental health resources, alternative child care options, as well as tech support for devices and connectivity.
“If they don’t have to work for Uber or a side hustle, that’s more energy they have for the classroom. That’s more focus they can bring to the students. At the end of the day, for me and all my colleagues, it’s always about the students,” Khan said.
The United Teachers Los Angeles shared the following statement after its tentative agreement was made:
“UTLA’s 150-member Bargaining Team reached a tentative two-year agreement with the district with big wins that the team enthusiastically recommends to UTLA members for ratification.
The flexing of our collective power forced LAUSD to direct significant funding into critical priorities identified by UTLA members in the Win Our Future contract demands.”
Superintendent Alberto Calvarho has not been involved in talks as he’s on administrative leave during an ongoing FBI investigation.
L.A. teachers last went on strike in March 2023. They joined service workers in solidarity on a three-day walkout, shuttering schools. The service workers union pushed for better wages and staffing for custodians, bus drivers and special education assistants.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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