Our two reporters here at LA School Report, Craig Clough and Mike Szymanski, both have kids in school. What they don’t have is a shared opinion about LA Unified’s decision on Tuesday to close down schools in response to an emailed threat of violence that proved to be empty. So here, in a reasoned conversation,...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti made it very clear: He didn’t close the schools. Neither did the police chief, nor the county sheriff. That decision was made by LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who was supposed to be on his way to retirement this week. “I made the decision to close the schools,” Cortines said...

An email that threatened violence with “explosive devices, assault rifles and machine pistols” provided LA Unified officials today with the rationale for closing all schools across the district. Those details and others, which began emerging today, convinced city and school officials that closing schools was the more prudent action, especially in the aftermath of the...