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Here’s what the first day of school in Los Angeles looked like on social media

Tuesday signaled a return to class for LA Unified students — and that means lots of back-to-school photos on social media. There was some news Tuesday afternoon when reports came out that a swarm of bees attacked students at Palmdale High School. Dozens of students were stung and taken to hospitals, according to reports. UPDATED:...
By Sarah Favot | August 15, 2017
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Meet the 15 new schools opening in LAUSD this week

Even as enrollment has steadily declined over the last decade in the nation’s second-largest school district, LA Unified is opening four new schools this week, while independent charter schools will continue to grow with 11 new schools opening in Los Angeles. The district will launch a new all-boys school called Boys Academic Leadership Academy, the...
By Sarah Favot | August 14, 2017
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Maywood school is the last to open in massive building project. But dwindling enrollment makes today’s LAUSD a very different district.

When the Maywood Center for Enriched Studies welcomes students next week, it will be the last school — the 131st — to open under the district’s more than $20 billion school building project. But as the district’s enrollment has plummeted since the building program began, the state of the district is far different now than...
By Sarah Favot | August 11, 2017
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Deportation order ends for LA father who was arrested outside his daughter’s school

The deportation order for a Los Angeles father, Romulo Avelica-González, has been removed by the Board of Immigration Appeals and he could be released by the end of the month. His attorney, Alan Diamante, said Avelica-González still has a pending immigration case that has been returned to a local immigration court, including his pending U...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 11, 2017
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Seeking a few good (young) men: LAUSD’s first all-boys school is at half-capacity days before opening

*UPDATED LA Unified is opening its first all-boys school next week, but so far only half the number of hoped-for students have enrolled. The Boys Academic Leadership Academy is starting with sixth- and seventh-grades, offering 100 spots for each grade. Eventually, the South LA school is approved to go through high school, opening a new grade each...
By Mike Szymanski | August 10, 2017
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School starts Tuesday, but next year it’s anyone’s guess

The school year starts Tuesday for most of the 664,000 LA Unified students, but don’t plan your vacation for late next summer yet, because it’s not clear when school will start next year. The second-largest school district in the nation has flip-flopped a number of times about when school should begin, and there are at...
By Mike Szymanski | August 10, 2017
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Daily weapons searches: LAUSD to reassess its policy

LA Unified administrators plan to review a controversial plan that requires all middle schools and high schools to perform random searches every day of student lockers and to scan students with metal-detector wands. School board President Ref Rodriguez said Superintendent Michelle King contacted his office on Monday to discuss the issue and review the district’s...
By Mike Szymanski | August 9, 2017
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‘Teacher jail’ numbers drop 25%, but LAUSD expects the cost will remain the same

The number of LA Unified employees housed in “teacher jail” while the district is investigating disciplinary complaints against them has dropped by nearly a quarter, but officials are projecting it will cost roughly the same to pay their salaries as they await adjudication. The number of teachers who are “reassigned, pending investigation,” the official name,...
By Sarah Favot | August 9, 2017
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LAUSD pledges to stand with immigrant families, launching new campaign and resource guides

The nation’s second-largest school district will start a new school year next week “standing with immigrant families,” which it signaled Tuesday with a new website and guides that pull together resources for immigrant students and their families. Superintendent Michelle King used her annual “State of the District” address Tuesday to unveil the “We are one...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 8, 2017
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New programs for LAUSD’s youngest learners and immigrant students in King’s second ‘State of the District’ speech

Superintendent Michelle King gave her second “State of the District” speech on Tuesday morning, touting new accomplishments for LA Unified and new programs that got wild applause from the audience of mostly principals. A middle school pilot program trying out later start times, 10 early education dual-immersion language pilots in Korean and Spanish, 28 new transitional-kindergarten...
By Mike Szymanski | August 8, 2017