Meet the Board That Approved $6.7 Billion in Private Contracts

Seven elected members. Unanimous on nearly every contract and bond vote in the public record.

Transparency Gap

LAUSD's Legistar system only contains roll-call vote records from June 2025 onward, and it is missing most 2026 meetings — it has no recorded votes from January through June 2026, and official minutes run years behind. Votes from that period shown here come from news reports, linked on each vote. Key votes — including the AllHere AI chatbot contract, iReady renewals, and teacher contract approvals — are not publicly accessible in the digital record. LAUSD Contract Watch filed 2 public records requests for complete voting histories. LAUSD did not respond to either.

7 Elected board members
Seven people control an $18 billion budget. They are elected by district, serve four-year terms, and answer to voters — but their votes are nearly impossible to find in the public record.
7-0 On every bond and procurement contract package we could find
Of 15 documented votes since June 2025, 10 were unanimous, including $6.6 billion in bonds and every procurement contracts package. The board split on layoffs and budget cuts, an immigration resolution, and one facilities contracts package.
84% Jump in ed-tech spending the year Carvalho arrived
The moment Carvalho took over in 2022, LAUSD’s commitments to education technology companies jumped 84% in a single year. Student outcomes did not.
$29M+ Lost to active criminal investigations
A $22 million pay-to-play scheme. A $6.2 million AI chatbot whose founder was indicted for fraud. Both happened while the district said it had no money for teachers.

LAUSD’s public vote records only go back to June 2025 — earlier votes on contracts like AllHere, iReady, and the teacher contract are not in the public database. Of the 15 votes we could document member by member, 10 were unanimous. The exceptions: Sherlett Hendy Newbill (District 1) voted No on a December 2025 immigration enforcement resolution; the board split 4–3 and 5–2 on 2026 layoffs and 5–2 on the June fiscal stabilization plan; and on September 15, 2026, Scott Schmerelson (District 3) cast the lone No vote on a facilities contracts package. Every bond and procurement contracts package passed 7–0. Scroll down to see how each member voted.

Vote records sourced from LAUSD Legistar (June 2025–present) and, for January–June 2026 votes missing from Legistar, news reports. LAUSD Contract Watch filed 2 public records requests for complete voting histories. LAUSD did not respond to either.

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