The first day of school at Eastman Elementary in East Los Angeles unfolded a lot like every other one — only stinkier.

A putrid odor lingered in the air around the campus, which sits downwind and five blocks from the burned Lineage warehouse site — giving children one more motivation to get inside.

“You want to go in already?” Petra Ramos asked, chuckling, as her first-grade son pulled on her shirt.

Los Angeles Unified opened its 1,300 schools Wednesday as educators showed off classrooms and student programs — and touted academic goals in a show of stability for a year that will be marked by uncertainty and transition.

Looming ahead for L.A. Unified are painful cuts, including the possibility of more than 6,000 job losses, needed to offset a future deficit projected to reach as much as $3.6 billion if the cuts are not made. Enrollment continues to shrink at a faster pace than in most California school districts — even though academic performance has been improving. And fears persist among families about federal immigration enforcement as the school system does legal battle with the Trump administration on several fronts.

And then there is the singular situation for families in and near Boyle Heights. Eight schools sit within one mile of the warehouse fire site — and dozens of others are not far away. Families endured a hot, miserable summer in neighborhoods beset with toxic smoke, ash, the stench of rotting food, fly swarms and rats.

Amid ongoing concerns, district officials have assured parents schools are safe, campuses have been sanitized and high-grade air filters have been installed.

This school year also opens after months of leadership upheaval.

Last year at this time, the seven elected board members were about to vote unanimously to rehire nationally recognized Supt. Alberto Carvalho for an additional four years. This year, he’s gone after the FBI raided his home and office in February as part of a broader investigation into his dealings with a tech contractor. Carvalho has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime, but the school board placed him on paid leave two days after the raid.

With his future uncertain and under pressure from the Board of Education, Carvalho resigned in June and was permanently replaced by a lower-key career insider, Andrés E. Chait, who had been serving as acting superintendent.

With about 390,000 students, L.A. Unified is the state’s largest and the nation’s second-largest school system — and therefore a constant center of attention. But it’s also opening week for more than half of L.A. County’s other 79 school systems, with most of the rest opening next week.

Despite the LAUSD uncertainties, back-to-school traditions were undeterred: Teachers put up bulletin boards; cafeteria cooks whipped up the district’s signature coffee cake. Speaking of which, there also are new school meal items: a vegan blueberry muffin, Poly High’s butter chicken, a cheesesteak on sourdough and chicken posole made from scratch.

Also, for the first time, parents can track when their children board and exit the school bus, thanks to software that scans student IDs.

And all students, especially younger ones, will be affected by a new policy limiting instructional screen time. Screens are entirely banned until second grade. L.A. Unified already banned student cellphone use during school hours.

The new butter chicken entree on the L.A. Unified school lunch menu was created by students at

John H. Francis Polytechnic Senior High School

in Sun Valley. The dish appeared on a menu sampler for students from across the school system the week before the start of school.

(Arwen Clemans/Los Angeles Times)

“It’s kind of stinky,” one parent muttered as she walked through the gate at Eastman with her daughter, joining the crowd of families gathered on the playground.

Ramos’ son had been asking to return to school after spending the summer indoors because of the smell. Ramos was somewhat reassured by the school’s efforts to explain the testing and other measures being taken — such as installing new high-grade air filters and separate air purifiers for indoor spaces.

The smell was unavoidable regardless of whether her children were at home or at school, Ashley Cervantes said as she dropped off her 2-year-old daughter at the Eastman Avenue Early Education Center.

At nearby Stevenson Middle School, the intensity of the odor waxed and waned Wednesday morning. Students seemed to be staying indoors early on, even during passing periods.

It isn’t just unpleasant odors that worry families, activists and experts. Concerns have been raised about isolated but potentially hazardous sensor readings of ammonia, for example.

United Teachers Los Angeles last week sent the school district a lengthy list of demands, which included closing all garden spaces until all soil and plants could be replaced.

A senior district official responded quickly but essentially described the UTLA demands as outdated, unnecessary or already accomplished.

On Tuesday, the district’s other largest union, Local 99 of Service Employees International, weighed in with concerns, noting that reduced custodial staffing and recent layoffs of gardeners make it difficult to attain even normal standards.

“Schools in the impacted area cannot simply be cleaned once and declared safe,” said the statement from the union, which represents the largest number of non-teaching district employees. “The district must have a plan to regularly assess air quality, surfaces, soil, ventilation systems and other potential sources of contamination.”

The Local 99 statement underscored that significant budget cuts already have affected the district in some areas. Still, for this school year, officials insist that major programs largely are untouched.

However, throughout the year, senior officials must develop plans that will result in the loss of more than 6,000 jobs in a school system that employs about 83,000. The district plan also includes unpaid furlough days for workers, but employees unions so far are not going along.

If the district does not follow through with budget cuts, county education officials will take charge and impose them.

Around the district, students were finding touchstones to buoy spirits.

At Reseda Charter High School, students entered under a rainbow balloon arch between two columns of cheer-squad members to the sounds of the marching band — as they celebrated a new auditorium and other construction.

“It’s a lot more open space,” senior Evan Lopez said. “It’s a lot, like, college-looking ... a little bit less high school-y.”

In South L.A., at Obama Global Preparation Academy, eighth-grader Benji Bravo is looking forward to theater class, which has included field trips to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. He’s also excited to continue a program that sends him to USC for extra academic work on Saturdays.

“It gives us an introduction into high school topics, higher vocabulary and higher level math, which I think is gonna help us a lot in the future,” he said.

At Pacoima Middle School, this year’s incoming sixth-graders include Aayden Vasquez, who is looking forward to sports, joining clubs and making friends. “The new school is gonna be pretty nice. I want to try to get into music to do violin,” he said.

His mother, Mary Rodriguez, is excited that Aayden was just designated as gifted and that he will be a fourth-generation Pacoima Panther.

“I’m happy with his education,” she said.

Times staff writers Francesca Pinney and Kori McNair contributed to this report.