FBI raids LAUSD Supt. Alberto Carvalho’s home, office

Federal authorities are raiding the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Alberto Carvalho, the FBI confirmed.

According to the FBI, agents are executing search warrants at Carvalho’s home and LAUSD headquarters, although it was not immediately clear why.

Law enforcement sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Times that the federal investigation specifically involves Carvalho. FBI agents are also at a property associated with Carvalho in Miami.

The FBI declined to share more information, citing the fact that the affidavits have been sealed by the court.

Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, confirmed that law enforcement “is executing a judicially approved search warrant” at Carvalho’s home, as well as at the headquarters of LAUSD. He also confirmed a search was underway in Miami, but declined to comment further.

An LAUSD spokesperson declined to comment.

Early Wednesday morning, media swarmed the outside of LAUSD headquarters as staff members shuffled in and out of the building.

Carvalho previously led Miami-Dade County Public Schools before joining LAUSD as superintendent in February 2022. He moved from heading the fourth-largest K-12 public school system in the country to the second largest.

Carvalho came under scrutiny from the Miami-Dade school system’s inspector general in 2020. Carvalho had helped solicit a $1.57-million donation from an online instruction company for a foundation that Carvalho oversees. The company had a contract pending with the district. Once hired, the company provided an online platform that was mired in problems and quickly scrapped, the Miami Herald reported.

In June 2021, the inspector general concluded that the donation, which was meant to benefit teachers, did not violate state or district ethics policies, but created “the appearance of impropriety” and that the foundation, which Carvalho had started, should return the funds. The foundation instead distributed the money in $100 gift certificates to teachers, according to the Miami Herald.

This story is developing and will be updated.