By Mallika Seshadri
EdSource
Four days after a 15-year-old with a disability was mistakenly detained and handcuffed by immigration agents outside of Arleta High School, the first day of the new school year in the Los Angeles Unified School District seemed normal.
Students at Arleta High walked through the school’s annual red carpet on Thursday as music played and cheerleaders performed. Teachers, like Nicole Patin, greeted them while passing out flyers in English and Spanish to parents and red cards detailing what to do if stopped or detained by an ICE agent.
Close friends and former colleagues joined in to welcome the students, including some of Patin’s former students.
“It was actually even emotional, because they just decided to show up,” said Patin, who also serves as chair of the school’s United Teachers Los Angeles chapter. “People that, at one point, were dear friends that had worked, people that were retired, they all came out to help us kick the year off in the right way.”
Similar sentiments reigned across Los Angeles Unified as students returned to school, district officials said during a press conference at Gardena High School.
And amid heightened immigration fears, district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho touted a 92% attendance rate districtwide — two percentage points higher than last year, a direct result of outreach that included more than 11,000 phone calls and 1,000 home visits.
“We’re very proud of you, and I just want to echo our happiness and congratulations on all the things that you’ve done today, and we know that you’re not going to stop, that this will be a continuation,” State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond said at the press conference. “The state of California and our office will continue to support you in your work.”
The district’s Region South had the lowest rate of attendance, which Carvalho suspected was due to the area being home to more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and parents’ fears. He did not disclose the number.
In response to current immigration activity, he said the district would ramp up its iAttend program — where school and district staff knock on the doors of families and encourage students to return to the classroom — from a quarterly to a monthly activity.
He also said that following a 300-student increase, or 7% uptick, in virtual academy enrollment last week, about 200 families changed their minds and reenrolled their children in one of LAUSD’s regular, in-person campuses “as a result of increased trust and confidence specific to the protection protocols.”
“[Today] was a great day of joy, of happiness, of community that was celebrated by students, parents and staff alike,” Carvalho said.
“The fear is real, that the anxiety is undeniable, that the concern in the minds and hearts of parents is strong. But many parents told us that the steps we took [involving several tiers of protection and safety zones surrounding schools] … created an environment where parents believed that the best place for their children would be the schoolhouse.”
ICE activity close to home
ICE activity took place on Tuesday, near several schools, but no closer than two blocks away.
The schools were:
- Danny J. Bakewell Sr., Primary Center and Bret Harte Preparatory Middle School in Region South
- Mendez High School, Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Castelar Elementary School in Region East
- Victory Boulevard Elementary and STEAM Magnet in Region North
Everyone involved was quick to communicate and respond, and “no impact was seen or felt by these schools as a result of these federal actions in the neighborhood,” Carvalho said.
The superintendent also said the district is working actively with two impacted families. One is the family of an 18-year-old Reseda High School student who was detained while walking his dog and is currently in a detention center in Los Angeles.
Carvalho said the boy’s mother told him, “My son is in a small space with 40 men, most of them, if not all of them, much older than he is. He is 18 years old, but he’s a kid. He has not been exposed to anything in his life. He drinks water once a day. The food is insufficient.”
The second involved a student who was taken to a detention center in Texas but has since been released.
“Armed men in hoods with masks jumping out of vehicles with militarized vests with long guns in hand. … It’s shocking for most adults,” Carvalho said. “Think for a second about the impact that this has on impressionable young children. … I’m a father. I would not want my child to witness that.”
He and school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin urged families to contact their school’s principal if they need help with transportation.
Carvalho said they have so far met the needs of more than 300 families who have requested special accommodation, including modifications of bus routes and potential door-to-door services.
“In some ZIP codes in our country, the children will never witness [detentions]. Never,” Carvalho said. “And then there are kids in [other regions who] walk to school. Blocks. … Can we spare, beyond politics, policy and legalities, can we spare our children from that trauma?”
At school
Patin, the Arleta High School teacher, said attendance remained strong on her campus and in her classrooms.
“Our campus is very secure. Our office is locked. … There’s no strangers or people just dropping in or having access to our campus,” she said. “That’s really never been that way. But we’re especially vigilant now.”
And while the overall energy was positive, she said the immigration raids have impacted students.
Many, she said, had watched violent interactions on social media and feared for themselves or family members.
“When class started, they wanted to talk about all of the people that were out in front of school and the reporters. They had questions,” she said. “They also wanted to share their own perspective on the experience and what they were feeling. So, we all allowed for that.”
More LAUSD students stayed home this summer than usual, Patin said. And many were happy to meet up with their peers after months of being apart.
Twelfth grader Andry Estrada was among them, happy to leave home at 6:30 a.m. and greet his classmates as a member of the marching band and as the secretary of the school’s Associated Student Body. He said he was excited to be reunited with his classmates, some of whom had stayed home toward the end of the 2024-25 academic year for fear of immigration enforcement.
“I was definitely excited to see my teachers again and build new relationships and friendships that I haven’t been able to reach in the summertime,” Estrada said. “It’s overall been a great day.”
This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.