The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday, March 10, to declare a state of emergency that grants Superintendent Austin Beutner additional powers to respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak without board approval, including actions like shuttering the school system or procuring out-of-school learning resources.

Beutner said the administrative action was taken to allow more timely streamlining of preparations for possible further steps in the district’s attempts to prevent the spread of COVD-19 in schools. No immediate exercises of the declaration are anticipated, he said.

L.A. Unified schools continue to operate as normal as there remains no known connection between the 20 cases of COVID-19 in L.A. County and individuals with the virus and Los Angeles Unified schools, a district statement said.

Meanwhile, the district requested $50 million in state funding on Monday for resources to enact distance learning operations in the case of closures following a possible outbreak. Beutner said that money would be used to give students without access to computers or wifi a Chromebook and free broadband at home.

“We don’t know what pattern the coronavirus may take. So far it has not presented itself in any of our schools, thank god,” said Beutner. “It might present itself in one of our schools, which could be isolated or several of our schools which would cause us to take a different set of actions. We’re planning for different scenarios and we don’t know which or if any will happen.”

The declaration of a state of emergency was voted on at a special board meeting Tuesday afternoon and gave the superintendent ability to relocate students and staff, manage daily student transportation and enact alternative educational program options.

Those alternative educational options, Beutner said, include the use of online assignment management system Schoology and the distance learning platform called Ingenuity often used by students to recover credits or catch up after long absences. He said the district-owned KLCS Television Channel 58 will also factor into remote instruction plans.

.@LASchools is deliberating a vote to declare an emergency at the country's second largest school district, which would give @AustinLASchools more power to make decisions w/o approval from the board. pic.twitter.com/3ndQgF3x1L — Ariella Plachta (@AriPlachta) March 11, 2020

The LAUSD serves more than half a million students across more than 700 square miles, and is by far the largest school district in California. The majority are low income students of color, many of whom Beutner said lack access to wifi or computers apart from school.

He added that in the case of closures, the production of school meals relied upon by thousands of students would continue and may be delivered to school sites for pickup.

The emergency declaration Tuesday required a unanimous vote, which came relatively easily but not after skeptical deliberation by board members, including from Jackie Goldberg who said the move inspired by city and state governments across the country gives one person “extraordinary powers.”

“To give an individual person that power is enormous,” she said, asking the superintendent to maintain strong communication with the board and stray from enacting new unessential contracts. “It’s with a great deal of trust that I’m giving it to you.”

Board member George Mckenna expressed concern about the lack of time limit or dollar amount on the faculties granted to Superintendent Beutner, but also voted in favor.

The emergency declaration also will provide paid leaves of absence to employees quarantined due to travel or illness, allows staff to serve as disaster service workers and provides for alterations, repairs or improvements to district property.

It comes as several major universities including UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, San Jose State and San Francisco State announced the introduction of online classes and the closure of Elk Grove Unified school district in Northern California this week.

As cautionary measures, the district has asked all schools and all staff to cancel all district-sponsored out-of-state travel and has begun extra disinfecting procedures at schools while encouraging hand-washing.