LOS ANGELES — The new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District spent his third day on the job touring Fremont High School in South Los Angeles.
Alberto Carvalho spoke with staff and students just hours after LA County lifted its outdoor mask mandate.
"I am very confident that we will be in a position of making an announcement going into next week regarding the status of mask wearing in outdoor settings," said the superintendent.
Masks will stay on for now. Carvalho said any decision would be based on science and adapted to fit each school site.
Carvalho also said current protocols have been keeping everyone safe.
"The positivity rate in LAUSD at this point for students is at 1.1% and employees at 1.5%. That's far better than community conditions," he said.
Leadership students were standing by as he mentioned masking. Senior Anise Leslie wants to keep them on as long as needed.
"I believe until we have fewer cases of people catching COVID and there are less than 100 cases, that we should keep our masks on and everyone should be safe and be vaccinated," Leslie said.
While on campus, Carvalho also addressed his plan for his first 100 days in office. One of his top priorities will be addressing learning loss.
"I'm looking specifically at attendance patterns, proficiency realities specific to language arts, reading, mathematics as well as the temperature on the social and emotional well-being," he said.
The former science teacher made his way to a biology classroom. He talked about cells and organisms to students, many of whom are immigrants.
He said they are a lot like him.
"I didn't speak English when I came to this country. An immigrant like many of you or your parents," Carvalho said. "Today I'm the superintendent in LA. Education made all of that happen."