LA Unified school board places Carvalho on administrative leave, names acting superintendent

The Los Angeles Unified School District board has voted to place Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on paid administrative leave, two days after the FBI raided his San Pedro home and district headquarters and searched a residence in Florida. 

While on leave, Carvalho will continue to receive his pay, an annual salary of $440,000. And Andres Chait, who has served as LAUSD’s chief of school operations, will step in as acting superintendent, effective immediately. The length of Carvalho’s leave, which is pending the investigation, has not been disclosed. 

The board’s nearly 8-hour-long discussion began Thursday evening, and the closed session meeting was recessed until 12:30 Friday. The final vote, which came in at about 3:45 p.m., was unanimous. 

“This is a very challenging time,” said Board President Scott Schmerelson as he spoke to staff at the board meeting following Friday’s announcement. “And I want you to know that the board believes in you, supports you, and knows that you will all continue to do your very best to support the students and families of the district.” 

Carvalho hasn’t made any public comments since the FBI raids. The agency has also not released further information on the investigation, and the search warrant affidavits remain sealed. Carvalho has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

So far, media reports have connected the raids to the company AllHere Education, with which both LAUSD and Miami-Dade County Public Schools had entered into agreements.

Three months after Los Angeles Unified rolled out Ed, an AI chatbot developed by AllHere, the company’s founder and CEO, Joanna Smith-Griffin, left. She was later arrested and charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Meanwhile, the property searched in Southwest Ranches, Florida, in Broward County, reportedly belongs to Debra Kerr, who records show is an AllHere contractor and maintained ties with Carvalho. According to The 74, her son, Richard Kerr, pitched the now-defunct AI company to LAUSD.   

“We must strive for stability and continuity so that every school can stay focused on teaching and learning and on building on the meaningful gains the district has made in recent years,” said Yoli Flores, the president and CEO of Families in Schools. 

“At the same time, we acknowledge that public discourse around our schools is inevitably shaped by broader political dynamics. It is essential that investigations and public actions be grounded in evidence and fairness.”

Chait has worked in the district since 1998, starting out as a teacher at Queen Anne Place Elementary School. He has since worked as an assistant principal and principal. He went on to serve as a field director, the administrator of operations for LAUSD’s Local District Northeast from 2015 to 2019, encompassing roughly 120 schools, and eventually the local district superintendent and chief of school operations. 

“Chait is a highly regarded leader and educator, and we are lucky to have him step in seamlessly to oversee our schools,” Schmerelson said in a written statement. “Over the past several years, our educators and students have made enormous strides, and we expect that progress to continue unimpeded.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Berkeley and a master’s in education administration from Cal State Los Angeles.

“I am humbled by the Board’s confidence in appointing me to serve as Acting Superintendent during this critical time,” Chait said in a statement. “Our focus remains clear: to ensure stability, continuity, and strong leadership for our students, families, and employees.”

EdSource reporter Betty Márquez Rosales contributed to this report.