LAUSD superintendent visits students' homes in push to cut down on chronic absences

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is rolling up his sleeves and going out of his way to help students and families.

He's on a mission to bring down the district's absence rate by meeting LAUSD families halfway.

Parent Daisy Osorio said life is so hard for her family, it's tough for her children to think about school. They live in a small two-bedroom apartment that is shared by two families, 15 people in total live in the space.

Osorio said knowing that they're struggling makes matters tough for her children.

"They say they don't want to go to school no more because they want to start working," Osorio said.

LAUSD's chronic absenteeism rate was 45.2% and 36% of students were chronically absent at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, according to an ABC News report.

Carvalho said those numbers are dropping because he and his staff are visiting homes throughout the district offering students and parents support.

"We are absolutely determined to meet kids and families where they are, even if it takes us knocking on doors as we've done 23,000 times," Carvalho said.

"When you see the level of challenge faced by so many, the struggle that is so evident and so real, of course you're touched," Carvalho said. "But then you need to turn that impact into action and bring solutions."

Knowing that Carvalho faced poverty as a child, his pledge to help means a lot to parents like Osorio, who was touched by Carvalho's visit.

"Not everybody is like that," she said. "They forget where they come from."