The Brief

Los Angeles Unified is expanding its winter break school program to a full week with the goal of drawing more than 70,000 students back into the classroom the week before school starts.

The 2026 Winter Academy will start on Jan. 5, at the tail end of winter break, instead of following the end of the fall semester as in past years.

“By students returning to school earlier, it'll get 'em into the routine and the rhythm [of school],” said LAUSD Chief Academic Officer Frances Baez. “Once the spring semester begins, it shouldn't be too difficult.”

The free program, which started in response to pandemic learning loss, is now an annual offering during the district’s winter and spring breaks.

While some parents and educators have questioned its effectiveness, district leaders say student outcomes — and interests — have shaped the program’s evolution.

“We're seeing that it's working because our students are improving,” Baez said.

What is Winter Academy?

Winter Academy runs the hours of a regular school day with the option of afterschool care.

Teachers and parents who participated in the program told LAist class sizes are generally smaller and there’s flexibility to adapt the curriculum the district provides to the students in their class.

“We want to offer programs that are gonna be aligned to student interests and at the same time, continue with that opportunity for them to grow academically and thrive,” said Executive Director of Secondary Instruction John Vladovic.

There are also several “camps” focused on specific activities like science, arts, math and gaming.

The program offers some relief to working families who struggle to cobble together child care during the district’s three-week winter break (prior attempts to reduce the break failed).

Catskill Elementary School fifth-grader Chloe Campbell has participated in several of the district’s winter and summer programs.

“I love doing work and seeing different people and making new friends and learning different things,” she told LAist in 2023.

In an interview this year, her mom Christal Campbell said her daughter particularly enjoyed the math lessons and the art activities like papier-mâché.

“They did basic academics, but made the projects more fun and learnable for them,” Campbell said.

The evolution of ‘acceleration days’

Winter Academy started in 2022 as "acceleration days,” meant to help students make up for lost learning time during the COVID-19 pandemic using winter and spring breaks.

“This is a homegrown program,” Baez said. “That means our educators and our leaders developed this program for our students.”

Changes this year include offering transportation, piloting a more camp-like experience focused on specific activities like art and math, and extending the program to five days.

Winter Academy enrollment has represented less than 20% of the district’s student body:

• 2022: 71,458 students
• 2023: 74,414 students
• 2024: 73,946 students

Average attendance is 55-60%, according to a statement provided to LAist by a district spokesperson.

The district said in a statement that the demographics of the participants mirror the district’s overall makeup.

However, some educators say the students in their classrooms during the winter program are not those that have fallen behind or are struggling academically.

Charnock Road Elementary third grade teacher Jason Buchalter has worked for LAUSD for almost three decades and taught summer school in addition to Winter Academy.

“These are the parents whose kids are doing well, who are keeping up with the homework, who are providing a really supportive educational environment,” Buchalter said. “So, of course they sign up for more school.”

Buchalter said his school, in Palms, calls and sends messages to the families of children who are struggling to tell them about the program, but it’s not clear why they don't sign up.

“They have trouble getting the kids to school,” Buchalter said. “Some of these families don't see the benefit even a few days can have.”

What do we know about student outcomes?

In 2023, the district started testing students at the beginning and end of Winter Academy to measure growth in reading, writing and math. The district provided some of this information in a statement to LAist.

In December 2023:

• Scores in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade increased 9.8% in English language arts and 8.8% in math. 
• There were “smaller improvements” in grades six through eight. 

In December 2024:

• TK through fifth grade English language arts scores “continued to show gains.” 
• In grades six through eight, there were “math gains,” with “mixed’ English language arts scores in grades seven through eight. 

“Every bit helps,” said Buchalter, the Palms teacher. “If at the end of the day we provide some kids with a fun, safe, structured, friendly day with three hot meals… it's a good investment.”

Buchalter said he’s looking forward to the additional days of Winter Academy in 2026.

“When kids work together for a whole week, they make friends, they build community,” Buchalter said.

Some high school students can increase grades from the previous semester by completing specific work assigned by their teacher through an Academic Course Extension (ACE) contract. Increasing a student’s below-C grade can improve college prospects and options for post-graduation financial aid.

More than 17,000 letter grades improved after the December 2024 Winter Academy. That’s more than double the number of letter grades improved the previous year.

Some teachers, including Sadia Aziz, say the work of a semester cannot be made up with just a handful of assignments completed over the course of Winter Academy.

“It becomes a little tricky because the students now expect their grade to be increased because they showed up and they did the work,” said Aziz, who teaches at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School.

How much does Winter Academy cost the district?

In a statement to LAist, a district spokesperson said the programs cost approximately $24 million to offer and that the money goes primarily to educator salaries.

The money comes largely from a state program called Expanded Learning Opportunities or ELOP that’s pumped about $18 billion a year into schools for afterschool and enrichment programs over the last five years. LAUSD’s share of the funding is about $612.3 million in the 2025-26 budget.

Previously, LAUSD leaders said federal COVID-19 relief money funded the program, before it expired in September 2024.

Housing policy in California had a big year.

Between the state lawmakers passing pivotal legislation that affects how much housing can be built and where and shifting construction rules prompted by the Palisades and Eaton fires, 2025 policy changes will have lasting effects on how new housing is built in Southern California.

As we head toward closing out the year, here are the top housing updates of 2025.

1. California upzoned neighborhoods near major transit stops

What happened

The state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved SB 79 in October. It requires a handful of major counties, including L.A. County, to allow buildings of up to nine stories tall in areas near major transit stops.

This change overrides local zoning laws in those areas. It was one of the most significant legislative milestones yet for supporters of upzoning and faced major hurdles before it was signed into law. In L.A., a slim majority of the City Council formally voted to oppose it and Mayor Karen Bass asked Newsom to veto it.

Why is this a big deal?

Creating enough housing to address California’s shortage requires being legally allowed to build in areas with demand. That’s where zoning laws come in.

Advocates for more housing density have argued that neighborhoods near transit stops should be first in line to upzone, because not only would that approach create new housing, it also would deliver new potential riders to struggling public transit agencies.

Cities like L.A. have offered developers incentives to build more in some areas if they provide affordable units. But SB 79 requires this upzoning to happen, despite whatever local zoning laws might be in place — even in neighborhoods currently zoned only for single family homes. That's caused backlash from local governments and homeowners in many of these neighborhoods. 

Does this affect my neighborhood?

Possibly, if you’re within a half-mile of a major transit stop.

If you’re in the city of L.A., you can check out this draft preliminary map to see areas that could be upzoned under SB 79.

2. Expect fewer lawsuits against new housing projects

What happened

California’s state Legislature passed new laws that significantly roll back the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA. CEQA requires expensive environmental reports for many new housing projects and allows almost anybody to sue to block developments on environmental grounds.

CEQA still is in place, but it no longer will apply to most new apartment buildings built in and around existing development.

Why is this a big deal?

A CEQA lawsuit can add many years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a housing project.

For years, critics argued that CEQA was used more often as a political weapon and a tool to block housing — including affordable housing projects — rather than a way to raise legitimate environmental concerns.

One study found that in 2020, CEQA lawsuits targeted nearly 48,000 new housing units — about half of all new units produced in a year in California on average. This rollback means that large new apartment buildings can more easily move through the pipeline to be approved.

3. Housing development policies are shifting in fire-affected areas

Construction workers begin to rebuild a business destroyed by the Palisades Fire on May 7, 2025.

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Justin Sullivan

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What happened

The communities of Altadena and the Pacific Palisades are rebuilding after massive wildfires razed both areas in January. This is where many thorny questions about how to build new housing are colliding on an expedited timeline.

Here’s what’s happened so far:

• More homes are required to use fire-resistant materials. The California state Legislature expanded the areas where new homes are required to be built with wildfire-resistant materials. This doesn’t change much for the Pacific Palisades, which largely already has those requirements. In Altadena, where the Eaton Fire burned, about 1,500 homes will have to be rebuilt under a stricter code. It’s worth noting that another 7,800 homes in Altadena that burned still fall outside these zones.
  
• Duplexes are banned in burn areas: After the fires, Newsom allowed local leaders to suspend SB 9 in high fire-risk zones. The state law is meant to add more housing density by allowing homeowners to split their lots and build duplexes on land zoned for single-family homes. Mayor Bass, along with officials in Malibu, Pasadena and L.A. County, approved the suspensions, which means duplexes won't be approved in these jurisdictions.
  
• Density is restricted in Altadena’s foothills. Before the fires broke out, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a new zoning plan for Altadena that restricted new construction in the foothills and increased density in the area’s interior, so that’s the plan residents will have to follow while rebuilding.
  
• Who’s buying up the land? A recent analysis showed that more than half of Altadena properties up for sale through September were sold to corporate developers, which will impact how the area gets rebuilt. Other groups are trying to find ways to support affordable housing — for example, a foundation led by Altadena residents awarded a nearly $6 million grant to build 14 affordable units and told LAist it hopes to spur other funders to get involved too.

All of these issues are a big deal, even though the fundamental issues around housing in L.A. — like lack of funding for affordable housing or the cost of building anything new — remain largely the same.

If you're curious about some of the biggest issues we're tackling about how to build new housing in L.A., sign up here for Building Your Block, LAist's seven-issue newsletter starter pack on housing development.

LAist's David Wagner contributed to this story.

Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo describe themselves as accidental activists who found an “immediate family” in Michele and Rob Reiner.

When same-sex marriage was banned in California with the 2008 passage of Proposition 8, Katami and Zarrillo began speaking out about what marriage equality meant to them.

They caught the attention of some “changemakers,” including Rob and Michele Reiner, and became plaintiffs in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which challenged the constitutionality of Prop. 8 and ultimately led to a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that reinstated gay marriage in California.

The fact that they were able to make it through the legal fight to restore the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, and marry each other in Los Angeles in 2013, they credit, in large part, to the Reiners.

“ We would not be married without Rob and Michele Reiner”

It started with writing the first check to fund the organization that took on Prop. 8 — the American Foundation for Equal Rights — but the Reiners' contributions quickly expanded to emotional and moral support, too.

The first time they really got to know each other was the day they filed their lawsuit, at dinner with the Reiners, their co-plaintiffs and legal team.

“Rob and Michele were, from the moment we met them, nothing but extremely kind, curious, passionate believers in LGBTQ rights,” Zarrillo said.

When Katami and Zarrillo held their 2014 wedding with family and friends, five years later and after a hard-fought win in the Supreme Court, they sat the Reiners at their head table.

 “We had such a great time celebrating the work that had been done, but most of all, celebrating the family that we created… It's a very fond memory of us knowing that we got to sit at their table to start our journey towards marriage,  and they got to sit at ours when we got married,” Katami said.

“ Michele was every bit Rob's equal”

Katami and Zarrillo both describe the Reiners as wanting to use their platform in Hollywood to make the country a better place through advocacy.

Jeff Zarrillo (L), Paul Katami (Center) and Michele Singer Reiner (R) on the day of their wedding at L.A. City Hall on June 28, 2013.

And while Rob Reiner was more public-facing and famously gregarious, Katami said Michele was a powerhouse and the driving voice behind their work: “She was just a creative force that had this vision of a future and a country that was more equal and more accepting.”

 Michele Reiner’s rule for the dinner table

Today, Katami and Zarrillo have adopted a principle they learned from Michele in their own home.

“There's only one conversation at a time. So the person speaking has your full attention, your respect,” Katami said, adding that the rule exemplifies exactly how the Reiners lived their lives. “They wanted to make sure everyone felt seen, everyone felt heard, and respected and loved.”

If you’re already planning to return a holiday gift that you’re just not that into, you could be in for a surprise.

More stores and shopping outlets are charging a restocking fee or a return surcharge of some kind. And many are also imposing deadlines or restrictions on returns, according to the National Retail Federation.

A quick search turned up these policies that might complicate your return plans:

• Best Buy charges a restocking fee of $45, or 15% of the purchase price on certain items, such as prepaid cell phones, cameras, drones and projector screens and … saunas.
• Macy’s offers free in-store and return shipping for its Star Rewards members, but non-members can face a $9.99 return shipping fee, plus tax, that will be deducted from your refund.
• UNIQLO requires online purchases to be returned online, not in a brick-and-mortar location.

How we got here

The reason is simple. We love to return stuff. Retailers are expected to see nearly $850 billion — with a "b" — in returns this year. And nearly 20% of online sales will be returned, according to a report by the National Retail Federation. (Interesting fact: Gen Zers are more likely to return an online purchase, the report found.)

Processing all those returns cuts into company profits. And then there’s the fraud, abuse and waste that goes along with it. (This includes everything from returning empty boxes, using and abusing items and then requesting returns, and something that I do quite a lot of — it’s called “bracketing,” where you buy two or more sizes of something to try them all on, planning on at least one return.)

It all adds up, and businesses are not in the business of wasting money.

“We’re seeing return figures that are much more than the norm,” said David Sobie, the Santa Monica-based co-founder and CEO of Happy Returns, a third-party business that you’ve probably seen inside places like Ulta. For consumers, it provides returns without a need for printer labels or packing tape. For businesses, this service provides built-in fraud protection.

He said limitations on returns in the form of restocking fees and charges are likely to increase in response to what businesses see as “costly consumer behaviors."

What you can do about it

Sobie said consumers can avoid unpleasant surprises with a little pre-purchase sleuthing:

• Ask about return policy details.
• Consider whether you might be better off checking the item out in person before purchasing.
• Find out about any “fine print” issues regarding return details, fees, or limitations. For example, if you purchase in person, can you return the item by mail?

And of course, hang on to receipts.

“I always say you want to check it out before you check out,” Sobie said.

Sitting in the Oval Office this month, President Donald Trump went on one of his trademark riffs, an aside about vehicles that are popular in Asia but impossible to buy new in the United States.

"They have a very small car. It's sort of like the Beetle used to be with the Volkswagen," he said. "They're very small. They're really cute."

In Japan, these vehicles are known as kei cars. They are, indeed, very small. They are, indisputably, very cute.

"But you're not allowed to build them" in the U.S., Trump went on. "I've authorized the secretary [of transportation] to immediately approve the production of those cars."

A shirt featuring a variety of kei cars was on display during a meeting of the Capital Kei Car Club.

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Michael Noble Jr. for NPR

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That news came in the middle of a press conference about the Trump administration relaxing fuel economy rules — a change that will make it easier for Americans to buy more of the big, fuel-guzzling trucks and SUVs that car buyers love.

Trump's endorsement surprised, delighted and somewhat confused American kei car enthusiasts.

It is not actually illegal to build tiny cars for the U.S. auto market. The problem is that kei cars built for foreign countries don't meet U.S. safety standards, so you can't import them unless you're willing to buy an antique. And companies could build tiny cars to U.S. standards, but given the American preference for big vehicles, they simply don't.

"If this is going to be a kick in the right direction to maybe get the domestic auto industry to reconsider cars like this," said Andrew Maxon, a kei car owner and the founder of the Capital Kei Car Club, "I'm all for it. I'll take what we can get."

An antique exemption 

Andrew Maxon, the founder of the Capital Kei Car Club, sits in his Autozam AZ-1.

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Kei cars, trucks and vans are very popular in Japan. But while new models might meet Japan's safety standards for things like airbags and seat belts, they're not designed to meet the very specific U.S. requirements.

So they can't be imported and driven in the U.S. unless they're at least 25 years old, which qualifies them as an antique and exempt from federal safety standards. That's why every vehicle at a recent Capital Kei Car Club meetup in Northern Virginia was at least 25.

Drivers raved about their tiny cars — their fun handling, their cute appearance, the delighted responses they get when they drive them around.

Drivers of kei vans and trucks also emphasized that the vehicles are practical. Ryan Douglass replaced his midsize American pickup with a pint-size Japanese one, but while it's shorter than a modern Mini Cooper, it still has a full 6-foot bed, longer than you'll find on a lot of massive trucks these days.

"I can lay down in the bed and not even touch the ends of it," he said. More to the point, he can fit in a sheet of plywood.

Unbeatable prices, with some drawbacks

Car enthusiasts work on a minor repair in the engine bay of a Suzuki Cappuccino.

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A new kei car, truck or van can be snagged in Japan for less than $15,000.

And the imported antiques? Douglass paid $8,000 for his truck, which runs great, and he says that was on the expensive end; he paid someone else to manage all the import paperwork.

Mainstream pickups are pricey in the U.S. right now, even when they're used. In November, the average price on Carfax.com was more than $34,000.

Douglass marvels at how much his kei truck saved him.

"I think I could get five or six of these and customize them to my heart's desire and still be cheaper than a brand-new truck that I can buy out of a dealership today," he said.

There are drawbacks, of course. Douglass' license plate warns drivers behind him that his vehicle is, in fact, "VRYSLW."

Ryan Douglass steps out of his Honda Acty.

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The snub-nosed front of the vehicle means there's no protective crumple zone in front of the driver. If you crash a kei truck, your knees take the hit directly. And because these vehicles are all antiques, their safety specs are antiquated too.

"I accept the terms and conditions," said Sergey Hall, whose 1992 Suzuki Cappuccino car is even smaller than Douglass' vehicle. "That's the best way to put it. I know that there are no safety features on it. No airbags, ABS [antilock braking system], no throttle position sensors or anything like that."

Safety concerns are why some states ban imported antique kei vehicles, even if federal rules allow them. That frustrates kei car enthusiasts, who note that motorcycles, which are not renowned for safety, are legal on highways.

"What is a 'safe' vehicle?" mused Dan Kobayashi, who drives a Honda Acty kei truck. He noted that a car that's slow and small is safer for pedestrians. And he pointed out that kei cars have great visibility, compared with bigger vehicles with giant hoods and chunky "A pillars" framing the windshield. So unlike the driver of a big SUV, Kobayashi said, "I don't have to worry about hitting kids in front of me, because I can see in front of me."

Still, kei car drivers do have to worry about whether other drivers can see them on American roads, where giant vehicles are moving at high speeds.

Little interest in little cars 

Nevi Bergeron sits behind the wheel in her Suzuki Cappuccino during a meeting of the Capital Kei Car Club.

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Michael Noble Jr. for NPR

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In his remarks, Trump said that companies "can't build" little cars in the U.S. and that he'd immediately authorize the production of tiny vehicles.

The thing is, building these vehicles is not actually prohibited in the United States.

Yes, federal safety standards block imports; for the record, the Transportation Department confirmed to NPR that those safety standards are not being waived for small cars. And, yes, some states restrict imported antiques because of safety concerns. So what's stopping automakers from building versions of these cars that do meet U.S. safety standards?

The American shopper.

When companies sold smaller cars in the past, "people didn't want to buy them," says Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at the car data site Edmunds.

"We look at the subcompact car — that is the smallest car sold in the United States. That segment is less than 1% of the market," she says. And it's shrinking, not growing.

Federal fuel economy rules have been criticized for incentivizing larger vehicles. Automakers have another incentive to go big: They make bigger profits on bigger vehicles.

But consumer preferences have also spoken loud and clear. Years ago, Daimler made a push to sell the Smart fortwo, a tiny car by any definition. It was cheap and cute, and it could fit sideways in a parking spot. But it was discontinued in 2019 after about a decade of disappointing sales.

Andrew Maxon walks by his Autozam AZ-1.

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Michael Noble Jr. for NPR

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At the Capitol Kei Car Club meetup, I asked everyone there — big fans of tiny cars — whether they think America writ large could learn to love them too. Could small, cheap and slow take off?

"If I had to bet, I would bet against it, unfortunately," Andy Creedon said, summing up the overwhelming consensus.

Kobayashi was more optimistic. His truck is useful, he said. And small vehicles like this are popular in other countries; why not in the U.S.? As he said, a little enviously: "Everybody else in the world has it."
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