ChangeTheLAUSD

Is LAUSD Superintendent Beutner Helping His Friend Profit From COVID-19?

A $50 million contract for COVID-19 testing awarded to a three-month-old company with political and financial ties to the head of the school district.

“My concern is there are labs out there that are not up to snuff because they don’t have that experience.”

- Dr. Susan Butler-Wu

In order to eventually get students back in the classroom, school districts will have to institute testing programs to ensure that members of the school community infected with COVID-19 do not spread the virus. To gain the confidence of both parents and teachers, the implementation of this plan must be beyond reproach. Unfortunately, a report by KCBS/KCAL investigative reporter David Goldstein, calls into question the integrity of the program set up by Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Superintendent Austin Beutner.

According to Goldstein, SummerBio had only been in business for three months when it was awarded the nearly $50 million contract with the LAUSD. While the company is licensed by the state, it has not yet received emergency use authorization from the FDA. Beutner made the selection “under emergency coronavirus powers” given to him by the LAUSD School Board at the onset of the crisis.