LAUSD students return to school Thursday amid immigration concerns

LAUSD Superintendent talks back-to-school for 2025

Alberto Carvalho discussed how LAUSD is preparing for back-to-school for the 2025-26 calendar year.

LOS ANGELES - Thursday, Aug. 14, marks a significant day as hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in Los Angeles Unified School District schools return to campuses for the 2025-26 academic year. 

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho appeared on Good Day LA on Tuesday to discuss what the community can expect in the new school year, especially given the ongoing federal immigration raids.

LAUSD student with disabilities detained by immigration officials

On Monday, a 15-year-old student with disabilities was detained by immigration officials in what was described as a case of mistaken identity. Carvalho addressed the situation during a press conference Monday and spoke about the incident again Tuesday. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 15-year-old LAUSD student detained by border patrol was case of mistaken identity, Carvalho says

His message to parents? "Trust us. We are prepared. We’re ready," he said.

"What happened yesterday is a despicable abuse of power on display in our community across the country. We were talking about a 15-year-old with disabilities whose communication skills are impacted as a result of his disability. The incident was described by federal authorities as a misidentification of an individual they were seeking. But that's no excuse," the superintendent said. 

Creating safe zones around schools

Superintendent Carvalho said Monday's incident exemplifies the need to create safe zones around campuses. 

"We have made a significant appeal to the federal government to create safe zones around schools, extending two blocks outside of the school, one hour prior to and one hour after the school day ends, because no child should ever witness [something like this]," he said.

Protecting students of immigrant families

Carvalho added that witnessing immigration raids and people being detained can be traumatic. "When we see masked men with long rifles jumping out of vehicles, apprehending adults, that is shocking to other adults. Just imagine the mental health trauma that is created in the minds of impressionable children. That's why we're asking for this, but also we've empowered our community with family prepackaged packets, we've trained our staff. We have legal aid support for impacted families. We're doing all we can to guarantee a safe school environment for all," he said.

The district plans to distribute pamphlets to families who will have the option to change bus routes if needed. Parents will also have the option to have their children learn virtually, as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We always kept a virtual education program through virtual academies that has enrolled anywhere between four and six thousand students annually post-pandemic," Carvalho explained.

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"There’s nothing like face-to-face instruction in a classroom. Teachers are magicians who identify learning deficits. They provide strategies that sometimes identify abuse beyond the schoolhouse. We provide nutrition and healthcare to kids. But it is certainly a better option than no schooling whatsoever as a result of immigration fears. You're absolutely right, we have rerouted our transportation routes to ensure maximum convenience for parents and transportation for all, but we're also forming partnerships with community-based organizations to ensure safe passage, particularly in areas that we know have been heavily targeted for immigration raids, such as Pico Rivera, Southeast LA, and the Valley. On the very first day of school, we expect it to be a fairly regular day with a lot of presence. We are deploying over 1,000 of our central office employees to assist schools and monitor safe passage routes around schools to ensure that kids and families are protected."

Post-pandemic gains

"This is the second year in a row where, across all grade levels and disciplines—reading, math, science—the district improved significantly. This year, however, we improved in a double-digit form compared to last year in reading and math. In conversations with the Department of Education, they are touting our success as a very unusual achievement, even across the country. There's no other large-scale district that has done what we've done. We've overcome the pandemic learning loss and surpassed it, reaching historically high levels of achievement for our kids, despite the concerns, poverty, and homelessness that many of our kids face," he said.

"They have overachieved compared to where they were just a few years ago. Kudos to our teachers, our principals, the support staff in our school district, and certainly our parents," he concluded.