Superintendent Condemns Federal Agents’ Actions, Announces Safe-Passage Programs
Responding to heightened concerns about federal immigration activity near campuses, the Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled a slate of safety measures on Monday, intended to help students travel to and from school as the 2025–26 school year begins on Thursday.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district will update policies, adjust bus routes, deploy more than 1,000 staff and volunteers to “critical areas,” and stand up a rapid-response task force led by former School Police Chief Steven Zipperman. LAUSD has also mailed and emailed “family preparedness packs” and will send them home on day one; the packets outline student and family rights, resources, the district’s “compassion fund,” and steps to update emergency contacts. Copies were shared with city partners, libraries, and employees.
“As our students return to school, we are calling on every community partner to help ensure that classrooms remain places of learning and belonging,” Carvalho added. “Children have been through enough – from the pandemic to natural disasters. They should not have to carry the added weight of fear when walking through their school gates.”
For families reluctant to leave home because of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, Carvalho urged the use of LAUSD’s virtual academies, which allow students to attend online from any location with internet access. He said virtual enrollment is up 7% and encouraged parents to contact principals or counselors for help with transportation or remote options.
More information about LAUSD programs to protect students can be found at http://lausd.org/weareone. In addition, the school district has a Step by Step Family Preparedness Plan available for families.
On opening day, district personnel and community volunteers will provide a visible presence at priority campuses and report any immigration enforcement near schools. Emergency crisis teams will accompany students on walks to and from school or conduct home visits as needed.
Carvalho made the announcement alongside Mayor Karen Bass and regional leaders. School Police Chief Aaron Pisarzewicz said the new task force is designed to speed communication among families, the district, and local governments.
District officials also reiterated campus-access rules: no one may enter without authorization, and law enforcement must present a judicial warrant signed by a judge. LAUSD said agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently attempted to enter two schools and were denied.
Monday’s rollout followed an incident outside Arleta High School that morning, when U.S. Border Patrol agents detained a 15-year-old student with significant disabilities who was waiting in a vehicle with his grandmother, according to Carvalho. Carvahlo said, during the press conference, “This young man was placed in handcuffs, presumably based on mistaken identity. He was not an adult. He’s a 15-year-old boy with significant disabilities. This cannot happen.”
The principal contacted School Police under district protocols, and the teen was later released. Carvahlo added, “The release will not release him from what he experienced. The trauma will linger. It will not cease. It is unacceptable.”
In a separate briefing, Carvalho and LAUSD Board of Education member Kelly Gonez condemned the presence of federal agents near campuses. Gonez said, “Today, unidentified immigration agents handcuffed, detained, and drew their guns on a BD6 student outside Arleta High School in an alleged case of mistaken identity. Such actions — violently detaining a child just outside a public school — are absolutely reprehensible and should have no place in our country.
Customs and Border Protection said claims that agents targeted the school were false, saying through a spokesperson, “Agents were conducting a targeted operation on criminal illegal alien Cristian Alexander Vasquez-Alvarenga—a Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 pledge with prior criminal convictions in the broader vicinity of Arleta. However, CBP offered no explanation for the alleged violent arrest of a 15-year-old with special needs while reportedly seeking an adult they claim is a gang member near school property.
Beginning Thursday, LAUSD will establish “areas of protection” one hour before classes and one hour after dismissal outside schools, bolster safe-passage programs with more than 100 community deployments, and accept additional volunteer applications through partner organizations. Staff will receive extra training before students return.
Carvalho said the moves reflect weeks of “aggressive and widespread” ICE operations reported across Los Angeles County, including near LAUSD sites, and are intended to keep families focused on the first days of school, not immigration enforcement.
