Lake Tahoe Unified School District closes schools Thursday/Friday due to critical staff shortage

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) announced this afternoon they have to close schools for the remainder of the week due to a critical staff shortage.

LTUSD leadership said this decision was not being made lightly, but through a process of careful evaluation and consultation with administrators and staff.

"We’ve struggled to keep schools open this week and it has been quite strenuous on our staff as well as our students," said LTUSD Press Information Office Shannon Chandler in a statement. "In looking at tomorrow’s anticipated absences, it is clear that our staff shortage will continue to increase. All school sites and departments are severely impacted."

Every staff member at LTUSD knows that keeping schools open is what’s best for kids but current conditions continue to intensify and they are at a breaking point, said Chandler. The health and safety of staff and students is at the forefront of the decision.

Closure of the schools on Thursday and Friday of this week (Monday is a scheduled holiday) will allow leadership for a five-day reprieve for both staff and students to care for their health and well-being as well as hopefully curb the spread of the virus.

Schools will resume on Tuesday, January 18.

"On behalf of the entire district, we are immensely grateful to all fellow staff members who have covered the duties of their co-workers, worked overtime, tracked Covid cases and attendance, worked their prep periods, and used all other creative ways to cover classrooms during one of the most challenging times in our District’s history," added Chandler.

Bijou Community Meeting Canceled: The community meeting scheduled at Bijou Elementary for tonight January 12 to discuss rezoning has been canceled. We will update you with the new meeting date soon. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Rapid Antigen tests for students: School sites in receipt of RA tests for students. School sites will communicate directly with families on how they can obtain a test for their child(ren). We are aware that there is little or no availability of RA tests in our community and we are thankful that we were able to procure this shipment.