The Los Angeles Board of Education on Thursday met behind closed doors for four hours but announced no decision about the future of Supt. Alberto Carvalho, whose home and office were raided by the FBI, a stunning action that could affect whether a nationally prominent education leader remains in his job.
The board’s options include standing by Carvalho or appointing an interim leader to replace him for the short or longer term.
Shortly after the Thursday meeting ended, the board at 8:06 pm issued a statement:
“The Board of Education has recessed its special closed-session meeting and will reconvene tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. to continue its deliberations,” the statement said. “The district continues normal operations across all schools and offices. We are grateful to our dedicated employees, families and students for their steady focus and commitment to our school communities.”
It’s not clear how long the federal probe is going to last.
The uncertainty over Carvalho’s future has arisen about five months after the Board of Education unanimously voted to retain him for another four years, at an annual salary of $440,000.
The board had hastily called a closed session meeting that began at 4 p.m.
The FBI raids appear to be related to an investigation of AllHere, a now-defunct company that developed a failed AI chatbot for the district.
Federal authorities have not provided details about the investigation. But one source with knowledge of the matter told The Times that the probe revolved around AllHere, whose founder was charged with fraud in 2024.
Along with Carvalho’s San Pedro home and office at LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, the FBI provided an address in Florida that was searched Wednesday morning. Public records show that property is linked to an individual who worked with AllHere.
Law enforcement sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Times that the federal investigation specifically involves Carvalho, who has served as LAUSD superintendent since February 2022.
Carvalho has not made any public statements and could not be reached for comment.
The investigation is a major crisis for the LAUSD, which under Carvalho’s leadership has been trying to regroup after learning disruptions during the pandemic. More recently the district has responded to assist families affected by the aggressive immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. These actions have threatened to destabilize a school system with large numbers of immigrant families.
Since his arrival in Los Angeles, Carvalho has moved aggressively to improve attendance after a pandemic-related explosion in chronic absenteeism. He also confronted issues such as labor and crime on campuses. After several years of post-pandemic academic help, Los Angeles students achieved what he described as a “new high water mark,” with math and English scores that rose last year across all tested grades for the second straight year, surpassing results from before the 2020 campus closures, Carvalho announced in July. The gains are generally considered solid evidence that instruction is moving in the right direction.
He garnered national attention for his activism against the immigration raids that affected students last summer, emerging as a foe of the Trump administration crackdown.
But the district’s experience with the AI firm was a notable setback during his tenure.
Carvalho had green-lighted an artificial intelligence chatbot, named Ed and represented by a smiling sun, for LAUSD students, families and teachers that quietly was disconnected three months after its release in 2024. It was supposed to respond to questions from students and parents in an accurate, helpful and private manner.
Carvalho touted Ed as an AI-enhanced student advisor that was to be a component of a unique Individual Acceleration Plan, or IAP, for every student. But the company behind it collapsed even before the technology was fully deployed.
The Wednesday FBI raids included a residence in Southwest Ranches, a town in Broward County, Fla., according to an FBI spokesman in Miami.
According to public record databases, Debra Kerr, a salesperson whose clients included AllHere, is listed as the owner of the Florida home. Neither the FBI nor confidential sources identified Kerr on Wednesday as a target of the investigation. Attempts to contact Kerr were unsuccessful.
Kerr, a successful consultant to companies seeking work with school districts, has long ties to Carvalho, going back to his time as superintendent in Miami. She worked as a consultant to AllHere and has claimed in court documents that the company owes her $630,000.
The 74, an education news site, previously reported that Kerr said AllHere never paid her a commission owed for work closing the AllHere deal in Los Angeles. The outlet also reported that Kerr’s son, Richard, is a former AllHere account executive who told The 74 he was involved in pitching the company to L.A. school leaders.
An FBI spokesperson declined to share more information, citing the fact that the affidavits have been sealed by the court. Law enforcement sources familiar with the probe said that the focus was Carvalho as opposed to LAUSD, and that it would fall under the broad category of financial issues.
Joanna Smith-Griffin, the founder and former chief executive of AllHere, was arrested in 2024 and charged with securities fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She pleaded not guilty that year and was released on a $350,000 bond. Her lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.