The LAUSD Student Emergency Information Form is the two-sided card every Los Angeles Unified School District school asks you to complete at enrollment and again at the start of each school year, giving staff the phone numbers, authorized pickup names, and medical details they need to reach you and act fast if something happens to your child. California Education Code Section 49408 lets the district require you to keep this information current, and LAUSD treats the card as mandatory.1California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 49408 Here is how to complete it correctly the first time.
Where to Get a Blank Form
You have three options:
- Log in to the LAUSD Parent Portal at lausdapp.lausd.net, where enrollment and emergency forms sit alongside grades and attendance.
- Walk into the school’s front office and ask for a printed copy. Schools also tuck paper forms into the opening-day packet your child brings home.2Vintage Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Magnet. Emergency Cards for 2025 2026
- Download a PDF from your school’s website. Some campuses accept a typed PDF that you scan and email back.2Vintage Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Magnet. Emergency Cards for 2025 2026
For new students, the emergency card is one item on a longer enrollment checklist that also includes the enrollment form, housing questionnaire, proof of residence, proof of age, parent ID, and immunization records.3Lenicia B. Weemes Elementary. Enrollment Procedures
Student Identification Block
The top of the card asks for your child’s last name, first name, middle initial, birthdate, grade, and home language. Use the legal name exactly as it appears on enrollment documents. If the name on the card doesn’t match what the school has on file, staff may hold the form until you reconcile the difference.
Below that you enter your home address, your work address, and phone numbers for home, cell, and work lines.4Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD Student Emergency Information Form
Routing Phone Numbers by Message Type
The form includes a small grid where you check which phone number the school should call for each type of message: emergencies, attendance issues, and general information. Choose based on where you’re actually reachable during school hours. Most parents send everything to a cell, but if your workplace has poor reception, routing emergency calls to a work landline can save minutes that matter. LAUSD’s major-emergency policy is to keep students on campus and use this card to coordinate release to authorized adults, so a working number is the whole point.4Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD Student Emergency Information Form
Authorized Pickup Contacts
The next block gives you space for several people the school may release your child to if it cannot reach you. For each one, write their full name, their relationship to your child, and home, cell, and work phone numbers.
Pick people who live or work close enough to arrive at the school in a reasonable amount of time. There is no legal minimum age for an emergency contact, but the person may need to physically pick up your child, sign them out, and make decisions in a stressful moment, so choose accordingly.
Anyone not listed on this card will not be allowed to take your child from campus. If your household changes mid-year and someone new needs pickup authority, submit a fresh form. Don’t rely on a phone call to the office. Front-office staff go by what’s written on the card.
Medical Conditions, Allergies, and Medications
The health section asks you to list any medical condition that restricts physical activity or needs special attention, including asthma and allergies to things like peanuts or bee stings. If your child has no conditions, write “none” rather than leaving the field blank. A blank field looks skipped, and the school nurse may follow up. Separate fields cover medication allergies and any medication your child currently takes.4Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD Student Emergency Information Form
If your child has a known condition that may need medication during the school day, such as severe allergies requiring epinephrine, you’ll typically need a separate medication authorization form signed by both you and a medical provider in addition to this card.
Insurance and Doctor Information
The insurance block asks whether your child has health coverage and, if so, whether it is private insurance, Medi-Cal, or Healthy Families. For a private plan, enter the insurance company name and group number. You also list your child’s doctor or medical office and their phone number. This helps the school route your child to the right facility and speeds the intake process if paramedics or a hospital get involved.4Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD Student Emergency Information Form
The Emergency Medical Treatment Signature
Near the bottom of the form is an authorization for emergency medical treatment. Signing it tells the school you consent to X-ray examinations, anesthetics, and medical or surgical treatment if your child is injured or becomes seriously ill at school and the school cannot reach you. This is the single most important signature on the card.
California Education Code Section 49407 shields schools, physicians, and hospitals from liability when they treat a student during school hours and the parent cannot be reached, unless the parent has filed a written objection to treatment beyond basic first aid.5California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 49407 If you leave the authorization unsigned, staff can still provide basic first aid like bandaging a cut or applying ice, but their hands are tied for anything more involved until they reach you or another authorized contact.
Turning the Form In
If you filled out a paper copy, hand it directly to the front-office staff or administrative clerk. Some schools also accept a scanned or typed PDF by email. For digital submissions through the Parent Portal, review every entry on the final screen before confirming. Once submitted, changes usually require contacting the school to unlock the record.
A confirmation receipt from the portal or a verbal acknowledgment from office staff is your proof that the form is on file for the current year.
When You Need to Send an Updated Form
LAUSD expects a new card at the start of every school year and whenever your address, phone number, or emergency contacts change. Don’t wait for the school to ask. If you move, change jobs, get a new phone number, or need to add or remove an authorized pickup person, submit a fresh form right away. A card with a disconnected phone number is almost as useless as no card at all.
Education Code Section 49408 gives the district the authority to require you to keep this information current.1California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 49408
Custody Orders and Restricted Pickups
If a restraining order or custody agreement bars a specific person from picking up your child, give the school a copy of that court order. The school will note the restriction and keep it with the emergency card. Leaving the person off your contact list is not enough on its own. If someone shows up claiming to be a parent, staff need documentation to support refusing the release.
Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, both parents have equal rights to access their child’s education records regardless of custody arrangements. A noncustodial parent can request to see the emergency card and other school records, and the custodial parent cannot block that access. The exception is when the school has been given a court order or legally binding document that specifically revokes the noncustodial parent’s rights to education records.6National Center for Education Statistics. Forum Guide to Protecting the Privacy of Student Information – Rights of Noncustodial Parents in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
Foster Care and Families Experiencing Homelessness
For a student in foster care, the educational decision-maker assigned to the child, who may not be the foster parent, is the key authority for school placement and related decisions. If you are a foster parent, check with the placing agency about who should sign the emergency form and medical authorization. Enrolling or withdrawing a foster child from school without the agency’s written consent can create legal complications.
Families experiencing homelessness should know that the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act guarantees students the right to enroll immediately, even without the usual paperwork like medical records or emergency contact documentation. A missing emergency form cannot be used to delay or deny enrollment. The school should work with you to gather the information soon after enrollment, but your child attends class in the meantime.