LOS ANGELES — Back-to-school preparations for the school year that began Thursday in Los Angeles were like no other — and more ominous.

One teacher training explained how to recognize various federal officers who handle immigration arrests or "kidnappings," as participants were told — and also how to distinguish between these officers and bounty hunters wearing cop gear purchased on Amazon.

"All of the agencies are masked, and all of them refuse to identify themselves, right?" said the presenter at the headquarters of United Teachers Los Angeles, which hosted the training. "That's what we've experienced on the ground."

The 2025 school year opens Thursday morning with many of the usual rituals: Balloons at the schoolhouse entrance, crying 5-year-olds with nearly crying parentsand teenagers who are nearly too cool for school but thrilled to see friends and even eager to meet their teachers.

"My children are interested and excited to start school and get the usual assortment of school supplies and new shoes," said Judi Bike. But their "favorite new school shopping is backpack shopping" for a child from a low-income family "usually through the Baby2Baby student program," she said.

In the background, however, is deep concern about whether federal agents will use school sites to target immigrants without legal status as they walk with children on the way to or from campus. Federal authorities have said no place is off limits as they maneuver to reach President Donald Trump's goal of 1 million deportations per year.

These fears were heightened Monday when federal agents reportedly drew their guns on and handcuffed a 15-year-old boy with disabilities outside Arleta High School in a case of mistaken identity. Federal officials said they were looking to apprehend a suspected MS-13 gang member and instead nabbed the person's cousin.

Family members persuaded officers that the boy was not the person they were looking for and the officers released him. A Department of Homeland security statement Wednesday praised the family for cooperating.

"The mother of the 15-year-old, who is cousins with the alleged MS-13 gang member, was on the scene and worked with Border Patrol," the statement said. "The mother informed Border Patrol that they are often confused for each other. She helped give Border Patrol the information to help apprehend him later in the day."

"Once again, our agents keeping streets and the American tax-payer safe from criminals and we will keep doing so until the mission is accomplished," said U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino in a social media post.

For school officials, however, questions remain about why such an operation unfolded outside a school.

Educators are worried

Educators throughout the Los Angeles region are expressing worries about their students and their immigrant families.

"Imagine ... leaving your home in the morning and not knowing if your parents or your t í o or t í a is going to be there when you get back, or your grandparents," said Pomona Unified School District Supt. Darren Knowles. "Kids have enough to worry about as it is. I remember walking to school as a kid, and I worried about ... the bully. I worried about the dog in the neighbor's yard and ... other fears that my mind would create."

Pomona's schools opened Tuesday, and the attendance rate was a little lower than last year's first day, Knowles said at a Wednesday event held with other local leaders to call attention to the importance of good attendance.

Getting to school, the leaders noted, leads to better learning, better health and even better life success. But they didn't suggest that arriving on campus — and focusing on learning — would be easy for many worried families.

"It's very difficult to teach children when they're afraid," said Debra Duardo, superintendent of the L.A. County Office of Education. While schools continue to be relative safe havens, educators have been forced to devise protocols about what do to when immigration agents are near a school or attempting to enter campus.

"This is something unprecedented," Duardo said. "The fear is real, and it is having a direct impact on student attendance and student enrollment."

The training that described the different federal agencies took place in late July. Trainings covering some of the same material have also taken place at schools.

The UTLA-hosted event was conducted by educators involved with the group Unión del Barrio. That activist group has trained about a thousand local educators and community members in recent months and — although its work is centered in L.A. — its volunteer leaders have worked up and down the state and consulted across the country.

Tiers of school protection

Thursday's first day of school will feature three tiers of protection for students and their immigrant families.

L.A. school district-organized efforts have established a watch zone around at least 100 schools thought to be at highest risk because of their large Latino populations. These include schools where older Latino students walk to school without their parents.

The teachers union has organized a second tier of faculty observers — ideally at least five to seven per school — to watch for immigration enforcement activity and alert a network of participants if they find it. The teachers are to observe and report only, said Ron Gochez, a district teacher as well as a community organizer.

The third tier involves groups such as Unión del Barrio that are prepared to gather community members at a scene and provide hands-on support or, if necessary, obstruct the efforts of immigration agents, even if they risk arrest by doing so, said Gochez, who is a Unión del Barrio leader.

It remains to be seen if some families will opt out of in-person school. Online enrollment rose in the spring semester for L.A. Unified once the Trump administration entered office. Early this week, it was running about 7% higher than last year despite overall lower enrollment, said L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho.

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