LAUSD Superintendent on Leave After FBI Raid
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has been placed on leave following an FBI raid of his home and office. The reasons for the raid and the subsequent leave have not been disclosed, and the district has not commented on the nature of the investigation.
The investigation into LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho reportedly centers on the district's dealings with AllHere Education, a now-defunct edtech startup. The company was contracted to create an AI chatbot named "Ed" for the district, a project Carvalho had publicly championed. The multimillion-dollar chatbot project collapsed just months after its unveiling in March 2024. AllHere's founder, Joanna Smith-Griffin, was later indicted on fraud charges, leading LAUSD to terminate its contract with the company. Sources indicate the FBI probe is focused on financial issues related to this failed contract. FBI agents also searched a Florida home belonging to Debra Kerr, a salesperson for AllHere with long-standing ties to Carvalho from his time as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Kerr has filed a claim stating that AllHere owes her $630,000. This is not the first time Carvalho has faced scrutiny over financial dealings. In 2020, the Miami-Dade school district's inspector general investigated a $1.57 million donation to a nonprofit founded by Carvalho from a company with a pending district contract. The investigation found no wrongdoing but concluded it created an "appearance of impropriety." Carvalho was appointed LAUSD Superintendent in February 2022, with a base salary of $440,000 and a $50,000 relocation package. The school board had unanimously renewed his contract for another four years in September 2025, a decision that would have made him the longest-serving superintendent in recent history. Following the raid, the LAUSD board unanimously voted to place Carvalho on paid administrative leave. Andres Chait, the district's Chief of School Operations and a 20-year veteran of the district, has been named acting superintendent to ensure leadership continuity for the nation's second-largest school district.
