LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI served search warrants Wednesday at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s headquarters and the home of its superintendent, a nationally recognized school administrator.
The nature of the federal investigation involving the nation’s second-largest school district and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s home was not immediately clear. The district said in a statement Wednesday that it “is cooperating with the investigation and we do not have further information at this time.” A third location near Miami, where Carvalho previously led the public schools, was also searched.
TV news footage showed agents in FBI shirts and jackets outside Carvalho’s home in the San Pedro neighborhood about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of downtown LA. There was no visible sign of agents outside the LA district's headquarters as of mid-morning.
Rukelt Dalberis, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, confirmed that agents were at the properties to serve warrants but declined to comment further because affidavits laying out details for the basis for the searches were under seal.
Before taking the helm of the Los Angeles district in 2022, Carvalho oversaw Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida’s largest school district, from 2008 to 2021. During his tenure, he was credited with improving graduation rates and academic performance. He was named Superintendent of the Year in 2014. The Portugal-born administrator was knighted by Spain in 2021 for his work in expanding Spanish-language programs for Miami-Dade County schools.
In California, Carvalho has stood out as a harsh critic of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, especially following raids in Los Angeles last year. When its 500,000 students returned to classes in the fall, Carvalho urged immigration authorities not to conduct enforcement activity within a two-block radius of schools.
James Marshall, an FBI spokesman in Miami, told the AP that agents searched a residence in Southwest Ranches, which is in Broward County west of Fort Lauderdale, on Wednesday morning and “have since cleared the scene.” He said no further information was available.
Officials with the Miami-Dade school system did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on whether the FBI or other federal agencies have contacted them regarding Carvalho.
Wednesday's search is the second time in a week the Justice Department has taken action against the LA school district. On Feb. 19, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit alleging that the district discriminates against white students under its decades-old desegregation policy.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s office said it had no information about the search, noting the public school system operates independently of city government.
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Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Julie Watson in San Diego also contributed to this report.
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