LOS ANGELES — Negotiations resumed Thursday for the first time in a week to settle the teachers’ strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The talks resumed at City Hall under the aegis of Mayor Eric Garcetti, although Garcetti himself had other events scheduled for much of the day.

Garcetti met with Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president of United Teachers Los Angeles, and L.A. schools Superintendent Austin Beutner before the negotiating teams went back to work, the mayor’s office said.

The teachers’ strike is entering its fourth day, and although heavy rain dampened the turnout at some picket lines Thursday, the job action is in full force, exacting a toll on teachers, families and the school district.

On Wednesday, fewer than a third of students came to school, the lowest number since the strike began, according to preliminary attendance figures. L.A. Unified officials have estimated the cost of the strike at $10 million to $15 million a day because state funding is based on student attendance.

Caputo-Pearl announced the resumption of talks Wednesday night.

“We met with Mayor Eric Garcetti,” Caputo-Pearl said, “and he has offered to mediate in an effort to help us work toward an agreement.”

He added that state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond also had become involved.

“Tony Thurmond has been in touch with both parties and offered support in the process,” Caputo-Pearl said. “We will be ready to bargain tomorrow, and our team will work long and hard toward an agreement that benefits our students, members and communities.”

Beutner has said for days that he is ready to resume bargaining — though neither he nor the district had yet to issue a comment on the new talks as of early Thursday morning.

The last round of talks between the L.A. teachers union and the district broke off last Friday. Since then, union leaders have been consumed with strike logistics and events. These included a protest Wednesday night outside the home of school board President Monica Garcia that was organized by a parents group closely allied with the union.

On Thursday morning, a few dozen picketers tried to get a break from the rain and warm up with hot coffee and donated conchas under a canopy in front of 99th Street Elementary.

Robin Longino, a second-grade teacher at the school, said it was encouraging that talks were resuming and hoped there would be an agreement soon.

“We just hope that the district comes with something demonstrably different than last week,” she said. She said she hoped Beutner would be in the room.

“We’re just ready for this to be over,” Longino said.

Another second-grade teacher, Yosana Joaquin, said she felt optimistic that she’d be in the classroom next week.

“I feel like we’re going to be back on Tuesday,” she said.

Longino said she felt the strike had been a long time coming and sometimes teachers “have to flex our power” to get meaningful change.

“This is the result of neglect for the last 30 years,” she said.

The school was hit harder on its first day of striking than most others because classified staff participated in a sympathy strike. But those staffers were back at work Tuesday, and by Thursday the school had reached a strike routine of sorts.

About 575 students are enrolled at 99th Street. About 30 percent have been going to school.

Principal Marissa Borden gave each passing student a fist bump Thursday morning as they walked by picketers and into the auditorium — for attendance and to eat burritos for breakfast.

The principal remained in the auditorium, along with a number of school classified staff. After breakfast, those in first through third grades stayed in the auditorium doing what was described as a social-emotional learning activity.

On Thursday, attendance was 136, down from 240 Wednesday, Borden said.

The assistant principal and a credentialed local district employee oversaw fourth- through sixth-graders in two classrooms. The students were working quietly on online reading programs, said Assistant Principal Angela Killens.

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Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

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