The disappearance of hundreds of students from LAUSD classrooms is not simply truancy, but a reflection of the economic and social crisis gripping Los Angeles.
Two problems connected almost immediately, which in turn reflected the need to connect many others. A local business owner told us she had reduced her staff from 14 workers to just three, a consequence of the lingering effects of the pandemic combined with the crisis brought on by immigration raids. Three Latino teenagers, referred to her by a community organization, now work for her instead. That arrangement lets her cut costs while giving the teens a way to earn some income and contribute to their household expenses.
One of them watched his parents return to Mexico because of their immigration status. Another has had to take on responsibility for his household’s expenses because his parents are afraid to leave home for work, fearing deportation. Both of them, like many others, dropped out of school while still minors.
“This responsibility came to them far too soon,” says Raquel Zamora, chair of the School Attendance Review Board, which tracks students who are not attending class or who never enrolled this year. “There are many factors at play. There are many victims of immigration raids, many who have been displaced by the housing crisis, economic problems.”
Zamora says the example of those young men is becoming increasingly common.
“Many have had to take charge of their families. They don’t have another option.”
At this point, many of these young people no longer see college as a stepping stone, as something to build toward in the years ahead. “And we have no plan for that,” she said.
LAUSD does not yet have figures that capture the full scope of this problem, but according to Zamora, the situation is difficult and is leaving “hundreds of young people in limbo, living through what amounts to an epidemic.”
Initial data available so far falls well short of the real picture, she said. The number of Latino students who have “disappeared” from classrooms runs into the hundreds, if not the thousands, according to different sources.
“This has created real unease. There is pressure from the state, a new superintendent, and numbers that don’t match what we’re seeing out on the streets,” she adds.
LAUSD teams have been going out to the registered home addresses of absent students. According to neighbors, many of those families have been evicted, others have simply moved, others were victims of immigration raids, and still others may now be homeless.
It has all turned into a puzzle no one can quite solve.
“As a society, we really aren’t equipped to solve their problems, their lives,” Zamora says.
She remembers years ago when thousands of Central American children arrived in Los Angeles and many settled in South Central. They were minors, but society looked the other way as they worked as dishwashers, washed cars and took whatever jobs they could find.
“They feel a responsibility to help their families,” she said. “They were paying rent for their parents or relatives. What choice have we left them?”
The problem extends well beyond the disappearance of these students.
As enrollment declines, LAUSD receives less funding, which means fewer teachers and eventual school closures. It is all one long chain reaction.
If LAUSD keeps losing students, far fewer of them will go on to community colleges or the Cal State system.
“We are not aware of this impact. It is a tremendous blow to the city of Los Angeles, and there should be far more awareness of it. This is going to affect the city’s economy, its workforce, everything, absolutely everything,” she says.
Zamora also points to the layoffs of LAUSD workers that are already planned and what is likely still to come.
There is another critical issue she underscores.
At this point, many of these young people no longer see college as a stepping stone, as something to build toward in the years ahead.
“And we have no plan for that,” she said.
If these young people simply vanish from the system, Zamora believes the logical response would be to consider vocational training for jobs such as plumbing, electrical work and other technical trades so they can still enter the labor market.
“None of that exists right now. There isn’t even a discussion about it,” she said.
LAUSD’s Efforts
The 2026-27 school year began August 12, and LAUSD has launched its iAttend campaign to improve attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism. The district has set a goal of reaching a 95% average daily attendance rate this school year.
The campaign began before the first day of school. On August 5, Superintendent Andrés E. Chait joined principals, teachers and attendance counselors for an outreach effort in Pacoima and Arleta. The group visited six homes to welcome families back and encourage parents to establish strong attendance routines from the beginning of the school year.
For LAUSD, the effort reflects a problem that did not disappear when the pandemic ended. Chronic absenteeism became a major challenge during the pandemic, when students were disconnected from classrooms for extended periods. Although attendance has improved since then, the district continues to focus on students who are missing enough school to put their academic progress at risk.
The district says its strategy is not simply about telling families that attendance matters. iAttend is designed to identify and address the barriers that can keep students away from school in the first place. Those efforts include personalized outreach, attendance counselors, mental health and wellness services, transportation assistance, child welfare services, basic needs resources and individualized interventions. That approach recognizes that there can be very different reasons why any given student misses school.
There is an important distinction, however, between chronic absenteeism and students who are considered “no shows.” LAUSD has not released a verified districtwide number of students who failed to show up for the start of the 2026-27 school year. The current attendance information therefore should not be interpreted as a count of students who have disappeared from school entirely. Instead, the district says it is focusing on getting students into classrooms consistently, before absences have the chance to become chronic.
The goal itself is ambitious. LAUSD wants to reach 95% average daily attendance while continuing to drive down chronic absenteeism district wide.
The district’s latest public information also shows why attendance remains such an urgent issue. California’s 2024-25 data show that the statewide chronic absenteeism rate among Hispanic or Latino students was 22.3%, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from the previous year. For Los Angeles, the issue carries particular weight because Latino students make up a large share of the district’s overall enrollment, which makes attendance not just an education issue but a major concern for Latino families across the city.
LAUSD is also facing a long-term decline in enrollment. The district remains one of the largest school systems in the country, with more than 520,000 students across its schools and programs.
