The week before starting fifth grade at Pacoima Middle School, Aiden Vazquez had a unique experience – he met several faculty members from his new school and shook hands with Andrés E. Chait, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
They were all in Pacoima, right outside his front door. The soft-spoken 11-year-old stood alongside his mother, Mary Rodriguez, as reporters took photos, shot video and asked him questions about his interests and hobbies (he plays the violin) and his favorite sport (basketball).
The home visit was part of LAUSD’s iAttend initiative, which seeks to reduce chronic absenteeism, which is defined as students missing 10% or more of school days. Despite the light-hearted nature of the recent home visit, the push to cut student absences is a serious matter.
In California, public school funding relies on Average Daily Attendance (ADA), so when students miss school, LAUSD loses state revenue, which is critical given its current fiscal crisis. The district failed to make sufficient cuts to its operating budget for the 2025-26 school year.
LA County Office of Education (LACOE) officials project LAUSD will face a $231 million cash shortfall by November 2027, which would threaten its ability to make payroll. This triggered a 45-day period for the district to revise its current fiscal plan for the upcoming school year.
With the Aug. 16 deadline looming, LAUSD – the country’s second-largest school district, with more than half a million students – is at real risk of insolvency and a possible county takeover.
To help improve student performance by reducing absenteeism – and, by doing so, aiming to secure the district’s maximum ADA funding – Chait began the day at Pacoima Middle School, where he joined administrators, teachers and support staff. The group boarded a school bus to conduct home visits with students and their families to help encourage school attendance.
While this kicked off the initiative for the 2026-2027 school year, Chait said the school district’s iAttend efforts have been ongoing during the summer months. He noted that the initiative is particularly important given the continuing local immigration raids and detentions.
“These communities, as we know, have been disproportionately impacted by some of the immigration enforcement activity that [has] happened over the last couple of years in Los Angeles, so it’s even more important that we … support our families and students,” he said.
Over the last few years, Chait said he has committed to regularly meeting with families in their homes almost every month because he believes that it makes a difference to connect off campus.
“There really is something about just sitting down in someone’s living room and having a conversation,” Chait told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. He explained that the short home visits on Aug. 5 were more about the excitement of ushering in the new school year, but regular visits with families – conducted by Chait, the school principal and attendance counselor – may last up to an hour “because we really want to walk them through how we can help them.”
“Today is really about just the joy of the first day of school,” continued Chait. “As a former principal, I know there’s no energy like that first day when the kids are coming back to school.”
When Rodriguez was asked if she wanted to take part in the iAttend event with her son, she thought it would be a great opportunity for both of them to meet school staff at Aiden’s new school – and the superintendent – and to help reinforce the importance of school attendance.
“I thought, ‘That’s going to make us feel safer – and make me feel more confident as a parent.’” Rodriguez told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. “I really do believe school attendance is very important. When I’m sending him to school every day, I hope that leaves an impression on him [about] how important school is and how important it is for him to be there in order to learn.”
Chait said he’s looking forward to starting his first full school year as district superintendent.
“This charge, being superintendent, is obviously a great responsibility,” said Chait, who began his academic career as a kindergarten teacher. “But it’s also an amazing privilege to get to be the leader for this school district that I think has done so many amazing things for students.”