Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published March 20, 2025 5:00 AM
North Hollywood sixth-grader Faith uses her phone to play Roblox, text her friends and control a cochlear implant that helps her hear.
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Zaydee Sanchez
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LAist
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Topline:
Students with disabilities are one of the few exceptions in Los Angeles Unified School District’s all-day cell phone ban, but the right to access their device is not automatic.
The backstory: As of Feb. 18, LAUSD students cannot use their cellphones, smartwatches, earbuds and other personal technology for the duration of the entire school day. The LAUSD Board voted last summer to expand the district’s existing phone restrictions to include lunch and passing periods. Board members cited rising concerns about the impact of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.
Why it matters: There are at least 63,000 students with disabilities in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Those students have access to additional support, including the use of their cellphone. Families told LAist their child’s devices help them control medical devices, cope with anxiety and regulate their emotions.
An exception to the ban: North Hollywood middle-schooler Faith uses her phone to play Roblox, text her friends and control a device called a cochlear implant that helps her hear. “I was concerned for students like me,” Faith said when she heard about the cellphone ban. In January, her parents and a team of educators met to discuss her Individualized Education Program and agreed that Faith could continue to use her phone to control her implant and use specific apps.
Read on ... for more about exemptions to the ban.
There are at least 63,000 students with disabilities in the Los Angeles Unified School District. For these students, the district's cellphone ban has implications beyond missing texts from friends or losing the option to scroll social media at lunch.
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What LAUSD students with disabilities need to know about the ban on cellphones in class
Families told LAist their child’s phones help them control medical devices, cope with anxiety and regulate their emotions.
While students with disabilities can be exempted from the Los Angeles Unified cellphone ban, that requires families to assert their rights.
Without an exemption, students can lose access to a valuable learning tool and the policy may also put students in the awkward position of sticking out from their phone-less peers.
When Faith returned to her sixth-grade class at Walter Reed Middle School in January, she learned students would soon have to lock their phones in pouches all day to comply with a new district-wide policy.
“I was concerned for students like me,” Faith said.
The North Hollywood student uses her phone to play Roblox, text her friends and to control a small electronic device that helps her hear. Faith’s cochlear implant sits over her left ear and translates sounds into electrical impulses that her brain interprets as sounds and speech.
We wanted to understand how students like Faith and their families are navigating the ban, which went into effect last month.
Pico-Robertson mom Ingrid Levy said she’s heard about the challenges cellphones pose at her daughter’s middle school, from bullying to students recording fights, but is also comforted by being able to reach her child, who experiences anxiety, in real time via her smartwatch. “How do we find that balance?” Levy said. “It's tricky.”
Here's what we learned:
LAUSD cellphone policy
THE RULES
Students must turn off and store their cellphones, smartwatches and earbuds during the school day.
Students can use devices before and after school.
Schools must provide students access to their phones in case of an emergency.
THE EXCEPTIONS
During the school day, students who need to can use their phones for the following:
Help with translation.
Health-related reasons, e.g. to monitor blood sugar.
Students with disabilities who use a cellphone or other technology as part of an Individualized Education Program or 504 plan will also not lose access to their devices.
THE ENFORCEMENT
In February, district spokesperson said in a statement that about half of schools chose to rely on the “honor system” and require students to keep their phones turned off and in their backpacks and the rest purchased lockers, pouches and other devices to store phones
“The goal of all of those laws really is to be sure that students with disabilities are not unfairly segregated, or removed from the classroom, or from the learning that their peers get on the basis of their disability,” said Denise Marshall, chief executive of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a national nonprofit that advocates for the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families.
Disability Law In Education: The Basics
IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 1975
Guarantees a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.
Covers children with disabilities from birth until high school graduation or age 21.
Requires development of an individualized education plan (IEP) for certain disabled students, with input from school staff and parents, that identifies the specific services the student receives.
SECTION 504: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973
Provides civil rights protections for people with disabilities in programs that receive federal funding, including employment, social services, public K-12 schools and post-secondary schools whose students receive federal financial aid.
Guarantees disabled students an equal opportunity to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.
ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990
Title II prohibits state and local governments, including public K-12 and postsecondary schools, from discriminating on the basis of disability.
Title III prohibits private colleges and universities from discriminating on the basis of disability.
Requires postsecondary schools to provide educational auxiliary aids and services to disabled students to guarantee equal access.
IEP: Individualized Education Program
A written legal document created by families and school staff that outlines goals, services and other supports for students with disabilities.
Understood: a national nonprofit that raises awareness and provides resources for people with learning and thinking differences.
Special education law protects students’ rights to use technology that helps them in the classroom. For example, Los Angeles Unified provides more than 3,000 students with devices, such as iPads that translate text to speech, through its assistive technology program.
Marshall is skeptical of cellphone bans. She said that they may be a barrier, because families have to assert a right and go through the process rather than it being automatic.
Marshall said families of students who want to ensure their child’s access to personal technology can call a meeting of their child’s IEP or 504 Plan team to discuss adding an accommodation that specifies how the device is used to benefit the student.
But she’s also worried that students may feel too uncomfortable being the only ones in their class with access to a phone to use the device to their benefit.
“It's just the overall dampening of an effective, promising technology,” Marshall said.
Faith and her dad, John Perron, outside Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood.
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Zaydee Sanchez
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LAist
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Marshall said while there is validity to the argument that students may use technology in inappropriate and distracting ways during the school day, many use their cellphones in a way “that enhances their learning,” for example, by taking photos of assignments or leaving themselves a voice note during the school day.
And she said a ban does little to prepare young people for the future.
“The goal is supposed to be to graduate students, all students, from school who have the tools and the skills they need to be successful in the workplace in community living and interacting with other people,” Marshall said. “Artificially limiting their access to the number one way that people communicate in our society these days, to us, makes no sense.”
Students navigate a new reality
As Los Angeles Unified developed the cellphone policy last year, Faith’s dad, John Perron, contacted his school board member.
“Devices have their place,” Perron said. “And some people have more of a need.”
The resolution that expanded the district’s existing cellphone restrictions included several exceptions, including for students with IEPs or Section 504 Plans.
However, the existence of either document doesn’t grant a student automatic access to their phone. Perron shared a district flier with LAist that read “exceptions can be made if the student’s IEP or Section 504 plan outlines specific needs for the device to support the student’s unique needs related to their disability.”
An LAUSD spokesperson said in a statement that students and families should discuss their child’s needs with their teachers, IEP teams and coordinators. The district could not provide the number of students who have received an accommodation related to their personal devices.
Perron said his request that Faith continue to have access to her phone to control her cochlear implant and apps that translate audio to text were met with “zero resistance.”
Faith holds up her cellphone pouch (bottom) next to her brother's, which is locked for the duration of the school day.
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Zaydee Sanchez
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LAist
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The school issued Faith a pouch with a Velcro closure that allows her to access her phone if needed. Her peers’ pouches are sealed magnetically and can only be unlocked by a staff member.
The exception doesn’t go unnoticed by Faith’s friends.
“There's a joke where whenever I'm using my phone, they'll be like, ‘This is a rare sighting, a phone in the middle of the school day,’” she said, with a smile.
She recognizes that her exception has limits — “I can't just open YouTube.” Faith said she’s already had to contact her dad several times to bring her a new battery for her implant.
When I'm on my phone, it just feels like I'm in my own world. It's just like a little safe space for me and it's something that can keep me entertained and calm.
— Crissy, Venice High School freshman
Other families are taking more of a “wait-and-see” approach.
Crissy is a freshman at Venice High School and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
Her IEP allows for her to take a “breather” from class and listen to music if she needs to calm down, but she says she hasn’t done that since the school’s full-day cellphone ban started in February.
“If I asked for permission, I feel like I'd be OK with it,” Crissy said. “But if I didn't, I feel like I'd be scared to do it.”
At Venice, students are expected to store their phones in locked cases that remain in their sixth period classroom.
The Los Angeles Unified School District budgeted $7 million to purchase pouches and other storage devices, like the lockers seen here at Venice High School, to enforce the all-day cellphone restriction. In February, a district spokesperson said in a statement that about half of schools chose to rely on the “honor system" and purchase no additional equipment.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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“Immediately in my brain, I was like, ‘I'm not gonna put it in the locker,’” Crissy said. “Anything could really happen. So I don't really trust it enough to be in a locker.”
LAist visited Venice classrooms in February and interviewed several students and teachers. At the time, the majority of students opted not to turn over their phones.
Crissy’s mom, Cristal Perez, said she does not encourage phone use during class, but supports her daughter’s decision.
“She's allowed to turn it off and turn it back on after school,” Cristal said. “I think that should be fine. She should not have to hand it over.”
Crissy said since the ban was implemented, her weekday screen time is down to about an hour a day. On the weekends, she spends about 8 hours a day on her phone, often watching make-up tutorials on TikTok and teen romances, including the “To All the Boys” series, on Netflix.
“When I'm on my phone, it just feels like I'm in my own world,” Crissy said. “It's just like a little safe space for me and it's something that can keep me entertained and calm.”
What’s next: The temporary order expires in 14 days. The court battle will continue to play out, with further decisions by the judge expected in the coming weeks, after more arguments from both sides.
The context: In halting childcare and welfare benefits to hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians, the Trump administration wrote that “recent federal prosecutions” are driving concerns about “systemic fraud.” But an LAist review found fraud in the targeted programs appears to be a tiny fraction of the total spending. Prosecutions that have been brought around child care benefits amount to a small fraction of 1% of the federal childcare funding California has received, according to a search of all case announcements in the state. When pressed for details about what specific prosecutions justify the freeze in California, administration officials have offered few specifics.
Federal judge orders LA to pay $1.8M in settlement
Makenna Sievertson
has been covering the case and attending federal hearings in downtown L.A. since at least March 2024.
Published January 9, 2026 5:02 PM
A view of L.A. City Hall in downtown.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.
The details: In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, the judge awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.
Why now: The city is appealing the decision.
Why it matters: In his order, released Tuesday, the judge compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A.in the settlement.
Read on ... for more about this week's order.
A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.
The city is appealing the decision.
The details
L.A. Alliance is a group of business owners and residents who sued the city and county of Los Angeles in 2020 in an effort to push both governments to provide more shelter to unhoused people in the region.
The city of L.A. settled with the plaintiffs in 2022, and U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing the city’s progress in keeping up with the terms of that agreement. The judge found the city breached its agreement in multiple ways in a ruling last summer.
Specifically, the judge found that the city did not provide a plan for how it intends to create 12,915 shelter beds, as promised, by 2027. The court also found the city “flouted” its responsibilities by failing to provide accurate, comprehensive data when requested and did not provide evidence to support the numbers it was reporting, according to court documents.
In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, Carter awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.
The organizations are considered “intervenors” in the suit, representing people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row. Their attorneys include those from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
Why it matters
In his order, released Tuesday, Carter compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A. in the settlement.
“It has fallen to plaintiff, intervenors, and journalists to point out the deficiencies in the city’s reporting,” Carter wrote, referring to data the city is required to report to the court as part of the settlement.
“Plaintiff and intervenors must be compensated for this,” he said.
The city’s response
Attorneys representing the city filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday.
L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment by phone or email.
Shayla Myers, senior attorney with the Unhoused People's Justice Project at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, told LAist the intervenors participated in the case without compensation “because it's incredibly important given what is at stake in these proceedings that unhoused folks have a voice.”
Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for L.A. Alliance, told LAist he’s thrilled the court is imposing accountability on the city, including sanctions for violating the settlement agreement. But Umhofer said he’s saddened that L.A. Alliance is going to have to keep fighting to hold the city to its promises.
“The obvious city strategy here is hire a big, good law firm to fight on absolutely every front in hopes that the plaintiffs, the intervenors or the court will ultimately give up trying to hold the city accountable,” he said.
What's next
The parties are scheduled to appear in federal court in downtown L.A. on Monday, when a hearing will resume to determine whether the judge will hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt of court.
Carter has said in documents that he’s concerned “the city has demonstrated a continuous pattern of delay” in meeting its obligations with court orders under the settlement and that the “delay continues to this day.”
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Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published January 9, 2026 3:52 PM
Asha Stark's Hot Grease specializes in Black fish fry with a side of social justice.
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Gab Chabrán
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LAist
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Topline:
Smorgasburg L.A. reopens this Sunday with 13 new food vendors joining the downtown market's annual grand reopening at the Row.
Why now: The January grand reopening with new vendors is a longstanding tradition that kicks off the year ahead. Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots. This year marks the market's 10th anniversary celebration in June.
Why it matters: The new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, following a challenging year for the restaurant industry, with concepts ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish honoring Black migration history.
Every January, the open-air downtown food fair reopens after its winter break and announces new additions to its carefully selected group of regular vendors.
This year’s new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish celebrating Black American culinary traditions, to an LAist 2025 Tournament of Cheeseburger heavyweight contender.
The reopening also marks the start of Smorgasburg LA's 10th anniversary year, and will feature 41 returning vendors, who've helped build the regular event into a fun, family-friendly opportunity to try new, often cutting-edge food you may not be familiar with.
Doors open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DTLA’s The Row, with free entry and free parking for the first two hours.
A new year
General manager Zach Brooks said this is his favorite time of year. "We add the new vendors at the beginning of the new year, everyone's excited."
Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Brooks said it's not a vetting process like "Shark Tank" but rather a matter of seeing if it's a good fit. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots.
"I think it's just a testament to L.A. and the resilience of people who love this business and have a passion for it, and are going to continue to persevere and start their businesses and want to be out there selling food," Brooks said.
Here are a few highlights:
Viral orange chicken sandwich
Long Beach-based Terrible Burger becomes Smorgasburg's new permanent burger vendor after standout appearances at LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers and the market's rotating Smorgasburger Stand. The smashburger pop-up, run by husband-and-wife team Nicole and Ryan Ramirez, specializes in burgers that draw from pop culture and global influences. They've made waves with a Korean barbecue burger topped with bulgogi barbecue sauce and a viral orange chicken sandwich, previously available only at their Tuesday night residency at Long Beach's Midnight Oil, making its L.A. debut Sunday.
Terrible Burger's viral orange chicken sandwich makes its LA debut at Smorgasburg after being available only in Long Beach.
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Courtesy Terrible Burger
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"We have been big Smorgasburg fans for a really long time before we even started Terrible Burger. We would go to Smorgasburg on dates, just eat and hang out. And it was just always a little dream of, "oh, what if we ever sold food here?" Nicole Ramirez said.
Crispy fried snapper and thick-cut fries
Orange County-based Hot Grease, run by Asha Starks, is among four vendors graduating from residencies to permanent status. The Southern fried fish pop-up celebrates Black American history through food that honors Starks' family heritage.
"Folks often forget that there are Black folks in Orange County. My family came to Orange County during the second wave of the Great Migration, and they settled in Santa Ana... my food is very cultural. And the story, I feel like, is just as important to highlight," Starks said.
Hot Grease's crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and "Ill Dill" tartar sauce.
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Courtesy Hot Grease
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Hot Grease serves crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and small-batch sauces like "Ill Dill" tartar. Honoring the fish fry's history as a site of mutual aid, Starks directs 3% of sales to the Potlikker Line, Hot Grease's reproductive justice mutual aid fund. For January, she's added fish and grits, black-eyed peas and collard greens.
Pizza with a Persian twist
Mamani Pizza brings studio-born energy to Smorgasburg LA with pies featuring Persian-inspired creativity.
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Courtesy Mamani Pizza
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Mamani Pizza, from the Grammy-nominated producer Farsi, part of the music production team Wallis Lane, started making Neapolitan-style pizzas at his West L.A. recording studio a year ago. What began as late-night pies for friends and artists became an underground hit. Most pizzas are traditional, but Farsi adds Persian touches like The Mamani, topped with ground wagyu koobideh, roasted Anaheim chilis, Persian herbs and pomegranate molasses.
Cato Hernández
covers important issues that affect the everyday lives of Southern Californians.
Published January 9, 2026 3:48 PM
Potholes pop up after rain because water seeps into the road's crevices and weakens the foundation. Cars driving over it exacerbates the damage, leading to more cracks.
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Cato Hernández
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LAist
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Topline:
All that rain didn’t just flood L.A. County streets, it chewed up our roads. You’re likely driving over more potholes than usual, so what do you do if your car gets damaged from one? You could get the government to pay for it.
How it works: You’ll want to take pictures of the pothole and your car. Then, submit a claim form. Personal property damage claims have a six-month filing period, and you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket first.
Unincorporated L.A. County: If the damage happened in an unincorporated area, you’ll have to print and mail this claim form.
Highway/freeways in L.A. or Ventura counties: For Caltrans damage claims, follow the filing directions here.
Manage your expectations: Keep in mind, this isn’t a quick way to cash. Claims can take months. You’ll also have to prove the agency was aware of the problem before your incident, such as by looking at street maintenance records for your area. Here are tips from the now-defunct site LAPotholes.com.
What’s next: Potholes continue to plague the city of L.A., and that’s probably not ending soon. In the next budget, StreetsLA (aka Bureau of Street Services) is proposing to prioritize funding for “large asphalt repair,” which means patching over sections rather than fully repaving streets, which some argue will lead to worse roads.
