Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn from kindergarten to high school.
Published June 18, 2025 5:00 AM
A Venice High School staff member stores a student’s phone as they arrive to campus on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Topline:
Four months after the Los Angeles Unified School District banned cellphones in its schools, the general consensus among students, teachers and administrators is that there are fewer visible phones during the school day and more interaction between students.
A new challenge: Venice High School math teacher Jessica Quindel said she noticed an immediate change in her students on the day the ban started in February. “It was almost like you had given them a sugar high; they were bouncing off the walls,” Quindel said. She offered stress balls and other fidget toys to occupy students' hands. “It's a challenge, but it's a good one because it means that kids are not looking at their phones, and instead they're trying to learn,” Quindel said.
The student perspective: “ People still bring their phones to school, they just don't get caught,” said Sophia, a Venice High sophomore. “The more rules you enforce, the sneakier people get. The more you imply that you don't trust students, the more they give you a reason not to trust them.”
Read on ... to hear more from students and parents.
Four months after the Los Angeles Unified School District banned cellphones in its schools, the general consensus among students, teachers and administrators is that there are fewer visible phones during the school day and more interaction between students.
Venice High School math teacher Jessica Quindel said she noticed an immediate change in her students on the day the ban started in February.
“It was almost like you had given them a sugar high, they were bouncing off the walls,” Quindel said.
She offered stress balls and other fidget toys to occupy students' hands and used grant funding to purchase “flexible seating.” Students can choose to sit on a bouncy medicine ball on wheels, a couch, or an intentionally wobbly stool instead of a traditional desk chair.
“It's a challenge, but it's a good one because it means that kids are not looking at their phones, and instead they're trying to learn,” Quindel said.
At the same time, students and educators say students aren’t necessarily following the rules as they were originally laid out.
“ People still bring their phones to school, they just don't get caught,” said Sophia, a Venice High sophomore. “The more rules you enforce, the sneakier people get. The more you imply that you don't trust students, the more they give you a reason not to trust them.”
On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.
On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.
The LAUSD Board voted in June 2024 to expand the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods (“bell to bell”). The policy also applies to smartwatches and earbuds.
Two months later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that requires districts state-wide to adopt similar policies by July 2026. California is one of at least 24 states, as well as D.C., that require school districts to ban or restrict the use of phones in schools.
LAUSD offered schools different ways to implement the ban and set aside $7 million for lockers, pouches and other devices to separate students from their phones. A district spokesperson said in a statement that about half of schools chose to rely instead on the “honor system” and require students to keep their phones turned off and in their backpacks.
It’s unclear how much of the money was spent. LAist requested invoices related to the policy’s implementation in April through California’s public records law, but has yet to receive them.
From the community
For the last year, LAist’s reporting on LAUSD’s cellphone ban has been shaped by the experiences of families, educators and students. Our survey is still open if you want to weigh in.
‘It’s a challenge, but it’s a good one’
Venice High School’s 2,300 students were supposed to stow phones in a portable lockers stored in their sixth-period classes.
Sophia was one of a few students in her class who relinquished their phones initially, but she said she stopped after about two weeks.
“ I don't use it throughout the day — I really don't,” Sophia said. “But I just, I feel safer knowing that my property is like, in my bag.”
She said the phone ban has been more of an inconvenience than anything. She’s in multiple extracurriculars, including the school newspaper.
“ I want to give respect to my teacher, and I'm there to learn. I understand that,” Sophia said. “But during my free time, during lunch and nutrition, when I have the perfect opportunity to send out communications to get stuff that I need to be done, done, there is no reason for me to still have my phone locked in a box.”
Sophia’s average screen time is the same as it was before the ban, about four hours a day.
Parents struggle to control phone use at home
Sun Valley parent Norma Chávez said her seventh-grade daughter chose to leave her phone at home rather than lock it in the pouch provided by her school.
“ She doesn't use it throughout the day, but now it's like she's starving from phone use when she gets home,” Chávez said. She said she catches her daughter hiding a second screen playing cartoons or YouTube while she’s supposed to be doing her homework.
“I'm trying to get her more involved with activities where she has to be outside the house and she can't have the phone,” Chávez said. For example, next year she’s signed up for the Los Angeles Police Department’s cadet program.
But other students reported the ban did change their behavior at school.
Venice junior Chris said that although he didn’t put his phone in the locker, he also wasn’t using it during the school day, for example to play video games during lunch.
”I was afraid to get it taken away by my teachers because there was still punishments that you would get if you got caught with it too many times,” Chris said.
Instead, he spent more time talking with his friends and noticed his peers doing the same.
But he has noticed another change: In February, he said his screentime averaged five hours a day. By the end of the school year his phone use had crept up to eight hours a day.
Most of that time is spent on TikTok, but Chris also spends hours in the photos app.
“ I just like to reminisce on memories I've taken with my phone,” he said. Among the nearly 10,000 pictures he’s taken since 2020 are images of his recent birthday party at his grandmother’s home and trips to Brazil to visit family.
Compliance ranges, but teachers report positive results
Sadia Aziz, a teacher at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, says the ban seems to work. “Kids used cellphones blatantly before the ban, now they are sneaking them here and there. You don't see a lot of phones in the classrooms. Students are definitely more engaged when the distractions of [the] phone went away."
“Cell phones are almost a non-issue on campus now,” said Mike, a Berendo teacher who shared his first name in an LAist survey. “Most students follow the rule to the letter (no phones at all for the whole day, including lunch and recess). Some don't lock the pouch, but they're not taking them out in class and teachers aren't having to police it and that's really all that matters.”
Math teacher Quindel said the support of a district-wide policy has helped her feel less like the “phone police” in her individual classroom, but lunch, nutrition and passing periods remain a challenge, especially given the other responsibilities teachers have.
A Walter Reed Middle School student holds the pouch where she is required to store her phone during the school day as part of LAUSD's cell phone policy.
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Zaydee Sanchez
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LAist
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“ We have thousands of kids here, and there's not that many adults to be able to intervene,” Quindel said.
Quindel said discussions are underway at Venice as to whether the school will continue trying to require students to store phones at the beginning of the day, or switch to a different strategy.
It’s not yet clear on a classroom or district-wide level whether the policy is helping students learn more.
“ I teach data science, so I have a very hard time saying that I have any kind of controlled experiment to say that there's a link between their grades and the cellphone policy,” Quindel said.
But she did mention a few individual cases where students told her that the phone ban helped them focus in class.
A new attempt next school year
“The students were all issued pouches, but in practice they are not used and teachers/admin [are] not enforcing the ban at all,” wrote Eagle Rock High School parent Carrie Hansen. “They say they will start [with a] clean slate next year.”
LAist requested an interview with anyone at LAUSD who might be able to speak to how the policy has been implemented district-wide and received a statement from a spokesperson.
“While the district has not completed a formal assessment since initializing our implementation of a variety of phone-free policies this semester, our school sites are reporting improved socialization and engagement during the school days and minimal to no disruption,” the spokesperson wrote.
Listen
23:18
LAUSD banned cell phones in February. So how’s that going?
Mariana Dale joins AirTalk to discuss implementation of Los Angeles Unified's cellphone policy.
Nick Melvoin, an LAUSD board member and major supporter of the ban, said faculty interested in studying how LAUSD schools are implementing the phone ban have contacted his office.
“We want the world to see that this is a really important policy,” Melvoin said. “I think we will all, as educators and educational leaders, look back in a few years and be like, how did we ever let cellphones in schools?”
On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.
On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.
Courtney Eileen Fulcher
is the apprentice news clerk for AirTalk and FilmWeek, hosted by Larry Mantle.
Published June 29, 2026 5:32 PM
A 1938 photo of KNX's studios.
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Herman J Schultheis
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Topline:
With KNX's shift last month back to AM radio only, we asked Southern Californians to share their memories of listening to the radio.
Why now: Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced it was moving KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — off 97.1 FM, but keeping the long-running news format on 1070 AM where it's been for more than 100 years. The move officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station.
A radio time capsule: AirTalk, LAist's flagship daily news show which airs on 89.3 FM, asked listeners to share their favorite memories of listening to the radio.
Continue reading... for vintage photos from The Los Angeles Public Library's digital archive collections highlighting Southern California's rich radio history.
Southern California was built on radio.
"I can still hear the jingle KFWB News 98,” wrote Taline in Los Feliz, during a recent conversation on LAist's daily news show, AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM. “I grew up hearing that in my dad's minivan on the way to and from school. It has a special place in my heart.”
Back in April, broadcast company Audacy announced KNX News — one of the last-remaining all-news FM stations — was leaving the FM dial where it had simulcast on 97.1 FM since 2021. The station, which is also one of the oldest in L.A., is not budging from 1070 AM where it has been on the air for more than 100 years. The move away from FM officially happened in May to make way for a new sports talk station, which Audacy officials called an area of growth for advertisers in today’s media landscape.
The move is one in a long line of changes for radio and a reminder that before podcasts, playlists and algorithms, many Southern Californians built their days around radio broadcasts.
Radio, a daily ritual
The construction of KNX
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Herman J. Schultheis
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Michael Jackson, a well-known KNX, personality
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Larry Mantle, now in his 41st year hosting AirTalk, remembers being a kid and dreaming of what it might be like to be behind the mic at one of these radio stations.
“ I grew up with KNX," he said. “My dream job as a kid was to be an anchor on KNX or KFWB, the two local all-news radio stations, 'cause there was nothing like hosting AirTalk that even existed at that point.”
Mantle opened up the phone lines on a recent show to hear from his fellow SoCal radio lovers about the shows they miss and the memories they have. Here's what they had to say:
A love for radio, then and now
A pilot of KMPC's traffic alert helicopter pictured with his daughter and grandson.
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Los Angeles Public Library
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A 1963 picture of Valley State College (now Los Angeles Valley College) preparing to launch KVCM
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Larry Leach
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Los Angeles Public Library
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“When you'd walk down Hollywood Boulevard where the station was, you could hear it playing as you went down the street,” said Olivia in Glendale about KLAC 570 with Al Jarvis.
Larry in Yorba Linda shouted out KBCA Jazz for its 24-hour jazz, saying “When I first moved out here in '68 from Phoenix, which had like an hour a week, it was a real wonder.”
Mark in Glassell Park emailed that he loves KCRW’s Henry Rollins, writing, “I used to bristle at his unique DJ persona, but over time, I came to love him and his crazy eclectic playlists. I find his knowledge in history and punk rock fascinating. He's a gem and a legend."
"I'd like to give a shout-out to all the DJs working at KXLU, the college station at Loyola Marymount University, said Jeremy in Culver City in an email. “That station's been on the air for nearly 60 years. I believe it's one of the best examples of what's possible with radio."
"KFWB and KRLA back in the day when they were rock music stations — Dr. Demento, one of my favorite on-air personalities, also had eclectic music taste," said Carrie in Desert Edge.
“ Dr. Demento was must listening when I was a kid in junior high school at Le Conte Junior High in Hollywood,” Mantle added. “Every Sunday night on KMET, we would make sure we were listening to Dr. Demento and his funny records.”
The question remains…
An 11-year-old winning a car in a KMPC contest in 1963.
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Los Angeles Public Library
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Listener support is vital to any radio station, and it’s clear KNX has many lifelong fans. AirTalk listeners highlighted their support for household KNX names over the decades like Bill Keene, Melinda Lee, Mike Roy and Jackie Olden.
As KNX makes changes, many are watching closely and thinking about the future of radio.
Listeners like Tommy in La Quinta are left wondering if the radio dial will be the same…
“I’m a hardcore listener, but I don't know about casual listeners [and] if they'll tune to AM,” he said.
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published June 29, 2026 5:02 PM
LA28 chair Casey Wasserman speaks with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on August 10, 2024.
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Luke Hales
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Getty Images
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Topline:
After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.
What's in the deal? The private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.
What happens now: The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the city council. The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.
Concerns remain: The contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Read on...for more on concerns over security costs for 2028.
After months of hand-wringing, Los Angeles and LA28 have come to a tentative agreement on how Olympics organizers will reimburse the city for its expenses for the 2028 Summer Games.
According to the deal, the private Olympic organizing committee will pay upfront for the estimated cost of services that are not eligible for federal reimbursement, like trash pick-up and traffic control. Under another proposal, the city would also be able to tap an LA28 contingency fund if it isn't fully repaid by the federal government for policing costs at Olympic venues.
The agreement is nearly nine months overdue and still needs approval by Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council.
The 2028 Olympics are intended to be privately financed, and an existing city agreement with LA28 states that the Olympics organizers, not L.A., will pay for extra costs for public services in support of the Games. But L.A. is the financial back-stop for the Olympics, meaning if LA28 goes in the red, taxpayers will pick up the bill.
Beyond that, the city services agreement presents another area where L.A. could incur additional unexpected expenses for hosting the Games. L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez warned LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover earlier this year that a bad deal could "bankrupt" the city.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, an LA28 spokesperson, and Paul Krekorian, who leads the city's office of major events, said in statements that the freshly inked agreement would help deliver a fiscally responsible Games.
"Mayor Bass’ priority is that the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games be fiscally responsible, protect taxpayers, and benefit Angelenos for decades to come. This agreement helps deliver that commitment," Krekorian said.
But the contract between the two parties doesn't fully resolve one of the biggest areas of financial risk for the city: the enormous cost of security for an event as extensive and high-profile as the summer Olympics and Paralympics.
The federal government has so far allocated $1 billion for security costs for the Olympics. Exactly where those federal funds will go has not yet been determined, and there's no guarantee they will cover all of L.A.'s policing costs.
To address this, city officials have also proposed an amendment to a 2021 agreement between the city and LA28. That amendment would establish that if L.A. is not reimbursed by the federal government for all its eligible expenses, it could dip into LA28's contingency fund of $270 million before the private organizing committee could use those funds for any legacy projects.
But that bucket of money will first be used for any costs that Olympics organizers still owe if they run out of revenue — meaning if the Olympics don't turn a profit, the city's access to that money will depend on how much is left for the taking.
Civil rights attorney Connie Rice, who has been tracking the city's negotiations with LA28, told LAist the agreement was a "PR document" not a deal. She pointed out that if the federal government does not pay up for security spending as expected, L.A. could be in trouble.
" It leaves the taxpayers with a GoFundMe strategy," she said.
The city services agreement lays the groundwork for more negotiations between LA28 and the city. Each venue will require its own agreement, to be negotiated by July 1, 2027. Venues in the city of L.A. include Dodger Stadium, the L.A. Convention Center, L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The City Council's ad-hoc committee on the 2028 Games will meet Tuesday afternoon to vote on the agreement.
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Lucas Brady Woods
covers the weather and disasters, among other climate and science topics.
Published June 29, 2026 4:54 PM
Cleanup is underway now at the Boyle Heights food storage warehouse that spewed smoke around L.A. earlier this month.
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Alejandra Molina
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a pair of executive orders Monday to ramp up efforts to clean the mess left by the fire that burned for a week at a Boyle Heights warehouse.
Why now: Since the warehouse fire was put out, the 85 million pounds of frozen food stored inside is now rotting, spreading foul smells throughout surrounding neighborhoods and raising concerns about an influx of pests. Residents have also been left with worries about air and water contamination after the fire and possible long-term public health effects.
Spoiled food removal: Bass and city officials said Monday the warehouse owner, Lineage, began moving food debris on Sunday to landfills in Ventura and Riverside counties. The company predicts it will take 5,000 truckloads to remove it all.
Reducing odors: Lineage plans to apply a chemical deodorizer, likely chlorine dioxide, to the food, debris and trucks leaving the warehouse. It’s also installing devices within the warehouse that will spray mist over the food inside until it is moved.
Pest control: Lineage is responsible for pest management inside the warehouse, while the city of Los Angeles is responsible for it outside the warehouse. Both have hired private contractors to manage pest control.
Air and water testing: The South Coast Air Quality Management District is overseeing efforts to measure harmful material in the air and posting data to its online air quality map. Lineage also hired private contractor Onterris to monitor air quality in the community surrounding the warehouse, with South Coast AQMD’s oversight. The Los Angeles Department of Sanitation has been monitoring water flowing from the site since firefighting operations began. It’s using a variety of methods, including containment tanks and catch basins, to divert the runoff into the sewer and prevent it from flowing into the L.A. River.
What’s next: Bass’ two executive orders are intended to accelerate cleanup efforts, protect residents and hold accountable the companies responsible for the facility and its safety. One order directs the Fire Department to report on its investigation into the cause of the fire within 90 days. The orders also include a number of provisions to help Boyle Heights residents and businesses, including free public transit, financial assistance and expanded public health resources.
Why it matters: Officials and advocates have called for transparency around the cleanup, especially because they say the neighborhood has been historically under-resourced and disproportionately subjected to environmental burdens. One of the orders signed Monday directs city officials to compile a report within 45 days on industrial areas across Los Angeles that sit close to homes and schools. The report also must include possible zoning and land use changes that would reduce negative health effects from existing and future industrial facilities.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published June 29, 2026 4:36 PM
Tents in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles on June 11, 2026.
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Apu Gomes / AFP
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Getty Images
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Topline:
L.A.’s lead homelessness agency, LAHSA, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday, asking a judge for relief from a federal funding suspension it calls unjustified.
How we got here: On June 11, HUD suspended the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority from federal grant activity pending an investigation into alleged mismanagement. The federal agency said the suspension means LAHSA cannot fulfill its role as collaborative applicant for the entire region’s application for federal homelessness dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. In its lawsuit, LAHSA says the suspension is the Trump administration’s back door attempt to eliminate the Continuum of Care program in L.A., which gives local officials discretion over homelessness projects submitted for federal funding.
LAHSA’s challenge: LAHSA says HUD has failed to identify any public agreement or transaction that LAHSA has violated or cite proper evidence of mismanagement. LAHSA also claims several inaccuracies and misrepresentations in HUD’s original suspension letter, including relying on reviews that LAHSA says were irrelevant to federal funding. “HUD supports its position with an amalgamation of uncorroborated hearsay information apparently cherry-picked from the internet,” the complaint states.
Legal argument: LAHSA's attorneys contend that HUD unlawfully suspended funding, arguing that the action violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Constitution's separation of powers principle, and the Tenth Amendment. LAHSA is asking for a stay of the HUD suspension pending judicial review and a permanent injunction barring head from suspending LAHSA or blocking the work of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care.
Why it matters: The deadline for the L.A. region to submit its application to HUD for regional homelessness grants is Aug. 26. LAHSA says the suspension jeopardizes $241 million in federal funding that supports more than 11,000 people across L.A. County. LAHSA says the HUD suspension could prevent the agency from other activities, including releasing the findings of its 2026 homeless count conducted in January.
