LAUSD students are back to school with street safety measures in place and a cell phone ban

The nation's second-largest school district began the 2024-25 school year Monday, with more than 400,000 students returning to Los Angeles Unified campuses. 

The new year brings city partnerships for enhanced student safety, a new student cell phone policy, and plans for campus improvements. 

In response to pedestrian deaths, city leaders announced last week the installation of 450 slow zones and 250 new speed bumps around campuses throughout Los Angeles to enhance student safety. 

Also, more than 500 crossing guards are in place for the new school year. Officials say that it is the "widest deployment" of crossing guards in the city in more than a decade.   

The steps to action began taking place last year after a woman was struck and killed by a car while walking to Hancock Park Elementary School with her six-year-old daughter, who was also critically injured. 

With campus upgrades and modernization in mind, the LAUSD will ask voters in November to approve a $9 million bond measure.  

Superintendent Alberto 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. 

Students returning to school on Monday will also have to keep their cell phones tucked away as a new policy banning cell phones in the classrooms will be enforced. 

Back in June, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education voted to ban student cellphone usage on campuses during school hours, joining a growing number of school boards to take such action and becoming the largest district in the U.S. to do so. 

Board member Nick Melvoin said the intention behind the cell phone ban is to tackle cyberbullying and to promote focus and concentration during class instruction.  

The initial proposal cited research indicating the impacts of excessive cell phone use are associated with increased stress, anxiety, depression, sleep issues, feelings of aggression, and suicidal thoughts in adolescents. 

Superintendent Carvalho is set to visit some of the district schools on Monday to welcome students and share his optimism for the new year. He hailed district achievements late last month in his annual back-to-school address,  

He touted rebounding test scores and stable district finances in spite of declining enrollment since the pandemic began.  

The district has taken a financial hit from dipping enrollment, since state funding to districts is based on student attendance. But Carvalho noted 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 back-to-school address. 

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