LAUSD students return for the new school year

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The nation's second-largest school district will begin the 2024-25 school year Monday, with tens of thousands of students set to return to Los Angeles Unified campuses amid a renewed focus on student safety and ambitious plans for campus improvements.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is entering the new year with a particular feeling of optimism, recently touting what he called rebounding test scores and stable finances in spite of declining enrollment since the coronavirus pandemic began.

He hailed those achievements late last month in his annual back-to-school address, delivered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown, noting that while "other school districts have been forced to lay off employees due to the challenging economic conditions, we have not and we shall not."

The district has taken a financial hit from dipping enrollment, since state funding to districts is based on student attendance. But Carvalho maintained his upbeat tone, noting that general attendance and graduation rates have improved at LAUSD. He said that has paid off in terms of test scores, with math and English scores rising -- although still short of levels seen prior to the pandemic that forced students into remote learning.

"We truly have much to be proud of in our effort to get students back on track after the pandemic -- but we're not done," he said in his speech.

He called the start of a new school year another "golden opportunity ... to change the lives of our students, every one of them."

In the midst of the coming school year, the LAUSD will ask voters in November to approve a $9 billion bond measure to fund campus upgrades and modernization. Carvalho told the Board of Education last week that more than 60% of the district's school buildings are more than 50 years old and in desperate need of upgrades.

The proposed bond measure will need the backing of 55% of voters to pass on Nov. 5.

It is opposed by some including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which says that over 30 years, the bond measure would cost the owner of a median-priced more than $8,200 in increased property taxes.

But local officials are pointing to safety improvements that have already been made around many campuses.

Mayor Karen Bass said Friday that more than 450 slow zones and 250 speed bumps have been installed near schools to make it safer for children walking to campus.

She also said the city Department of Transportation will deploy more than 500 crossing guards in the 2024-25 school year, calling it the "widest deployment" of crossing guards in over a decade.

"The city moved urgently to install hundreds of safety provisions near schools ahead of this new school year," Bass said in a statement. "In partnership with the City Council and Los Angeles Unified School District, we took action to make streets safer near schools and we will continue to do more to promote student safety."

Los Angeles Police Department officials urged residents to be aware of the start of classes, and the resulting increase in children who will be walking, biking or otherwise traveling to schools. LAPD leaders plan to hold a news conference Tuesday to raise awareness, but they noted ahead of time that the "leading cause of death for children aged 14 and younger is vehicle accidents, whether they are passengers riding their bikes or getting struck by a vehicle while walking."