Amid growing concerns about federal immigration enforcement, Los Angeles Unified School District officials on Monday announced new measures to ensure students can travel to and from school safely.
With the 2025-26 academic year starting Thursday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district will update policies, adjust bus routes, deploy staff and volunteers, and form a task force led by former School Police Chief Steven Zipperman to reassure students and families.
“As a father, as a teacher, principal, superintendent, alongside these honorable leaders in our community, I think we all agree that in our community, there are no sidewalks for immigrants and separate sidewalks for everybody else,” Carvalho said. “Everybody walks the same journey to school and everybody walks then back home.”
The district has mailed and emailed “family preparedness packs” to households, which will also be sent home with students on the first day of school. The packets include information on rights, resources, LAUSD’s “compassion fund” and how to update emergency contacts. They have also been distributed to city partners, libraries and district employees.
For families reluctant to leave their homes due to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, Carvalho encouraged enrollment in LAUSD’s virtual academies, which allow students to take online classes from anywhere with internet access. Parents and guardians can contact schools, principals or counselors for information on transportation and virtual programs.
On the first day of school, more than 1,000 employees will be stationed in “critical areas” identified as high priority due to ICE activity. LAUSD will partner with labor and community groups to provide volunteers who will serve as a visible presence and report ICE operations near campuses.
Emergency crisis teams will also walk with students and families or make home visits when needed.
Mayor Karen Bass joined Carvalho for the announcement alongside other regional municipal and labor leaders. She described the event as a “profound moment.”
“Here you have an entire array of elected officials, appointed officials, education leaders, people committed to our children, and we are gathered here today to talk about protecting our children from the federal government,” Bass said.
No federal officials can enter LAUSD schools without a warrant, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. This video was broadcast during the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.
“We want LA Unified to continue the success that the district has had over the last few years, and we will stand and support our education leaders to make sure that we can continue to progress,” she added.
School Police Chief Aaron Pisarzewicz said the task force will strengthen communication between the district, families and local governments.
“We’re not in the business of interfering with any lawful actions of another law enforcement entity,” Pisarzewicz said. “However, we still know that schools are the safest place for our kids, and we want to make sure that they are safe while traveling to and from schools. They’re facing a number of different hazards on a daily basis, and our role is to make sure that they are as safe as possible. So, we will be highly visible.”
Carvalho said the initiatives come at a critical time. On Monday morning, while a student was enrolling at Arleta High School, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained a 15-year-old boy with significant disabilities who was waiting in a vehicle with his grandmother, according to Carvalho.
“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,” Carvalho said. “This cannot happen.”
Carvalho said the district’s protocols worked as the principal of Arleta called the School Police Department and the young man was later released.
“The release will not release him from what he experienced. The trauma will linger. It will not cease. It is unacceptable,” Carvalho said.
At least 20 people were arrested in front of a Home Depot in North Hollywood Monday morning according to witnesses who taped the incident. Tracey Leong reports for NBC4 at 5 p.m. on August 11, 2025.
In previous years, the district deployed volunteers and LAUSD employees around schools to welcome and ensure the safe return of students to schools. Since June 6, aggressive and widespread ICE operations have occurred in various locations of Los Angeles County — some just outside LAUSD schools.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents attempted to enter two LAUSD schools, which prompted swift response from the district, who denied agents entry.
District officials emphasized that they do not allow anyone on campuses. Law enforcement personnel must have a judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter LAUSD schools.
“If they do not have that — and I can tell you the vast majority of actions in our community are not accompanied by that type of judicial warrant – that means they have no jurisdiction,” Carvalho said. “They have no power in entering our schools. We do not grant them access.”
Carvalho noted the district did not see across the board a decline in the average daily attendance of students during the final weeks of school. But he expressed concern about what the first, second and third weeks of school will look like as some parents may have self-deported as a result of rampant immigration enforcement.
“We don’t know what that will be, and that could be somewhat disruptive this school year,” Carvalho said. “We hope that through our communication efforts, our awareness efforts, information and the direct counseling with students and parents that will be able to provide stable attendance for kids in our community.”
Meanwhile, DHS has defended its immigration enforcement operations. On Monday, the department released information regarding suspects they arrested over the weekend.
In the list of arrested suspects, DHS said they arrested 41-year-old Jose Manuel Lopez-Arroyo, a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for shooting at inhabited dwelling or vehicle discharge of a firearm” in San Fernando; as well 37-year-old Adrian Flores-Jimenez, a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for hit-and-run causing injury” in Butte.
“While Americans were enjoying their weekend, ICE was hard at work arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens that pose significant public safety threats,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
“Some of the dirtbags arrested over the weekend include rapists, attempted murderers, and violent abusers. If you are a patriotic American and are tired of seeing your community pillaged by illegal alien crime, apply to join ICE law enforcement and help us remove gang members, pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, and more violent thugs.”