LOS ANGELES—A tentative deal with the teachers union that would restart in-person instruction for Los Angeles Unified District (LAUSD) pre-school and elementary students by mid-April was approved March 11 by the district’s Board of Education. After a roughly two-hour question-and-answer session focusing on the mechanics of the agreement and anticipated structure of school days, the board unanimously OK’d the pact with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). The deal still needs to be ratified by UTLA’s membership, with voting expected next week. “It has been a long, long 361 days, I believe, since school facilities were closed back in March,” Superintendent Austin Beutner said March 10. “And our goal since then has been the same. It never wavers—to reopen schools as soon as possible and in the safest way possible.” The tentative agreement announced late March 9 ended a tense few weeks, during which UTLA members overwhelmingly supported a statement saying …