A steady insider steps in: Andres Chait leads LAUSD amid federal scrutiny ...Middle East

When the Los Angeles Unified School District board placed Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on leave last week after federal searches of his home and office, the sudden leadership vacuum at the nation’s second-largest school system raised immediate questions about who would steady the district.

The board turned to Andres Chait, a longtime district insider who began his career as a kindergarten teacher and rose through the system to oversee its daily operations.

Now serving as acting superintendent, Chait inherits a district navigating contract negotiations, potential budget cuts and concerns among families about student safety amid federal immigration enforcement.

The leadership change comes at a turbulent moment for the district, which serves more than 540,000 students. Carvalho, who took the helm in 2022, was placed on paid administrative leave Feb. 27 after federal agents executed search warrants at his home and district office as part of an ongoing investigation. Federal authorities have not publicly detailed the nature of the investigation, though media reports have linked the searches to AllHere, an education technology company behind an artificial intelligence chatbot project for LAUSD. Carvalho has not been charged with wrongdoing.

The development has left the district under the leadership of its acting superintendent while the investigation unfolds.

Speaking during a school board meeting on Monday, March 2, the first since he stepped into the role, Chait sought to reassure educators and families that the district would continue operating normally.

“As acting superintendent, my top priority is to keep Los Angeles Unified steady and focused on our core mission: educating, supporting and caring for the students of Los Angeles,” Chait said. “Our schools will remain places of safety, consistency and opportunity. Teaching and learning will continue uninterrupted, and our plans and priorities will move forward.”

He said the district remains “committed to academic excellence and student wellbeing,” adding that “our core values remain unchanged.”

Acknowledging uncertainty surrounding the leadership transition, Chait said the district would focus on maintaining continuity.

“I know transitions can create uncertainty, but our district is strong,” he said. “We have dedicated leaders at every level, and together we will ensure stability and continuity. During this time, I’ll focus on supporting our schools and keeping students at the center of every decision.”

For many educators and parents who have worked with Chait over the years, the appointment represents a stabilizing choice — a pragmatic administrator with nearly three decades inside LAUSD known for steady management and communication.

Chait began his career in LAUSD classrooms teaching kindergarten before becoming a principal and later superintendent of the district’s then-Local District Northeast, one of the regional divisions that oversaw school communities across Northeast Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando Valley.

Most recently, he served as chief of school operations, overseeing the operational systems that keep the district’s campuses running — including transportation, facilities, safety and nutrition programs. In that role, he also helped coordinate district responses during crises ranging from the Palisades and Eaton fires to heightened immigration enforcement that affected school communities.

Colleagues say that background in classrooms and school leadership has shaped Chait’s approach to running the district.

“He came from the perspective of a kindergarten teacher,” said Jose Velasquez, principal of Osceola Street Elementary School in Sylmar who worked with Chait in several leadership roles over more than a decade.

Velasquez said Chait frequently framed his role around serving students and supporting school sites, noting that, “he positioned himself as a learner by listening for understanding.”

He said Chait’s long career inside LAUSD made him a familiar and steady presence during periods of leadership change.

“ He was LAUSD developed,” Velasquez said. “He has that background of being in the culture and he provided a sense of comfort.”

Velasquez said Chait was comfortable leaning on the expertise of the instructional team and often approached problems with practical, common-sense style.

“ He was very comfortable in letting other people lead,” he said. “Common sense drove a lot of his interactions.”

Velasquez also described Chait as accessible to school leaders.

“Not frequently, but on those occasions that I felt the need to ask a question regarding operations, he would directly respond to me or he would directly guide me,” he said. “He was never standoffish.”

Velasquez said Chait placed a strong emphasis on communication, recalling that district leaders recently sent administrators guidance on reassuring families that schools would remain safe and functioning.

“That’s typical (of Chait) — communicate, communicate, communicate,” he said.

Parents who interacted with Chait when he oversaw schools in earlier roles described a similar style.

“Mr. Chait has proven to be very reasonable. He’s proven to be interested in having real conversation, real listening and engagement with LAUSD families,” said Nicolle Fefferman, co-founder of Parents Supporting Teachers, a parent advocacy group with more than 30,000 members. She interacted with Chait when he served as regional superintendent before becoming chief of school operations.

“He was very approachable and very professional,” Fefferman added.

She said Chait’s experience as both a district leader and the parent of two LAUSD students could help him navigate a turbulent moment for the district.

“​​Speaking as a parent, sometimes the things we hear about in board meetings aren’t the whole picture,” Fefferman said. “It’s nice to know that he is as a parent  experiencing LAUSD in another capacity.”

The district is facing several major challenges in the months ahead, including looming budget cuts, tense contract negotiations with multiple unions and ongoing concerns among families about immigration enforcement in some communities.

Fefferman said many families are worried about what potential cuts could mean for their schools.

“We’ve got budget development happening right now with lots of alarming conversation and lots of cuts,” she said. “People are really concerned about what their schools are going to look like next year, what services are no longer going to exist, who is going to be gone from campus.”

She said Chait’s long experience inside the district could help guide the district through the uncertainty ahead.

“I appreciate the fact that his unique experiences as an administrator, as a parent, put him in an interesting position, in a different position, to help folks in the district make the right choices as we move forward,” Fefferman said.

For some educators, that helps explain why the board turned to Chait now.

“To me it was a smart move to put someone who is comfortable sitting at a table to collectively get the work done,” Velasquez said.  “It’s not making a statement about his authority, but about building sustainable stability for our children and the community.”

Even after decades in administration, Velasquez said he still thinks of Chait in terms of his earliest role in the district.

“I always think of him as a kindergarten teacher. I taught first grade, so I know kindergarten,” he said. “When I heard somebody talk straight up being a kindergarten teacher, that’s a humbling role. Instead of speaking of it, he speaks from the heart as someone who lived it versus someone who performed the role.”

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