FBI searches Los Angeles school district headquarters and the
superintendent’s home
[February 26, 2026]
By ERIC TUCKER, CHRISTOPHER WEBER and JULIE WATSON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI served search warrants Wednesday at the Los
Angeles Unified School District’s headquarters and the home of its
leader, a former Superintendent of the Year who was knighted by Spain
for his work.
Federal officials would not give details of the nature of the
investigation involving the nation’s second-largest school district and
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s home. The district said in a statement
that it “is cooperating with the investigation and we do not have
further information at this time.” The FBI also searched a third
location near Miami, where Carvalho previously led the public schools.
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.
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.
Over the past five years in Los Angeles, Carvalho has been lauded for
the district's improvements to academic performance. He won similar
praise while overseeing Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida’s
largest school district, where the national superintendents association
named him Superintendent of the Year in 2014.
But both districts also drew scrutiny under his watch.
In 2024, Carvalho heavily touted an education technology company that
developed an AI chatbot named “Ed” for the Los Angeles district to help
students, calling it “a game changer." But less than three months after
unveiling the technology and paying the company $3 million, the district
dropped its dealings with AllHere, which collapsed into bankruptcy.
Months later, founder, Joanna Smith-Griffin, was charged with securities
and wire fraud, along with identity theft.
Carvalho denied personal involvement in the selection of AllHere,
according to the Los Angeles Times. After Smith-Griffin was indicted,
Carvalho said he would appoint a task force to examine what went wrong
with the LAUSD project. There have been no announcements of any task
force being appointed.
During his tenure in Florida, Carvalho also drew scrutiny in 2020 after
a nonprofit he founded solicited a $1.57 million donation from an online
education company the district was planning to use but later dropped.
The district’s inspector general determined the donation didn’t violate
state or district ethics policies but did create the “ appearance of
impropriety ” and should be returned. The nonprofit instead distributed
the donation to Miami-Dade teachers in $100 gift cards.
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Media stage outside the home of Los Angeles Unified School District
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in San
Pedro, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Spain knighted the Portugal-born administrator in 2021 for his work
in expanding Spanish-language programs for Miami-Dade County
schools.
Months later, Carvalho took the job in California and became 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.
“I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world, regardless of my
position today, if today I did not fight for those who find
themselves in the same predicament I faced over 40 years ago when I
arrived in this country at the age of 17 as an undocumented
immigrant,” Carvalho said at a news conference last year.
Carvalho arrived in Los Angeles at a critical moment, as the
district found itself flush with funding from state and federal
COVID-19 relief money but still struggling with the impacts of the
pandemic, including learning losses and declining enrollment. He
previously sparred with Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over
his order that schools not require masks during the pandemic.
The Miami-Dade school system said in a statement that it was aware
of the investigation involving Carvalho but did not have any comment
at this time.
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.
Wednesday's search was 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 and Watson from San Diego.
Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
also contributed to this report.
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