LAUSD Considers School Closures as Enrollment Continues to Decline

Los Angeles Unified is weighing whether to merge or shut some of its schools as fewer students enroll and money gets tighter. The district has not named any campuses that might be affected.

The district counts roughly 374,000 students for the 2026-27 year, close to 4% fewer than a year earlier and more than 40% below the early 2000s, when it topped 700,000. Despite that drop, it still runs almost as many campuses as it did then. The district points to fewer births, the expense of living in the region, and charter schools drawing families away. It has also recently tied lower enrollment among newly arrived students to stepped-up immigration enforcement.

State funding depends heavily on attendance. Chief Financial Officer Saman Bravo-Karimi said, as reported by LAist, that each 1% enrollment drop costs the district about $20 million a year for the next three years. Smaller schools can lose staff and offerings, such as elementary classrooms that combine grades or high schools with fewer electives. The district is looking at merging campuses or closing them and finding new uses for the buildings. Parents are asking which schools, how many, when, where students would go, and how transportation and crowding would work. The district has no answers yet and says this stage is about explaining why changes may be needed, not choosing schools.