A Pasadena Unified School District committee, in response to grassroots opposition, has decided against school mergers, a decision that will now go to the Board of Education for final approval.
A Pasadena Unified School District committee studying whether to merge schools into other others in a cost-cutting move has recommended no closures take place.
A Pasadena Unified School District committee has recommended that no schools merge into others, a big victory for parents and other stakeholders who for months have decried a “consolidation” process they said would negatively impact students and neighborhoods and which itself they said was tainted. the 33-person Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee in The previous evening, the committee held its seventh and final meeting, which culminated in members voting on a handful of closure scenarios, all of which received fierce public pushback, despite the initial impetus for the mergers: to save the district money at a time of steep enrollment declines.
The contentious process now is in the hands of the Board of Education, which has the final say on what, if any, closure take effect. According to the district, 29 of the 33 members voted on six potential merger scenarios with all six failing to have more yes votes than not votes. Sawyeo Pollald hold signs during a protest at the Pasadena Unified School District in Pasadena on May 11, 2026.
Merge Don Benito Elementary School to Willard Elementary School;Merge Eliot Arts Magnet and McKinley School and close McKinley . McKinley elementary grade students would go to Hamilton, Madison or Washington; Merge Thurgood Marshall ninth-12th grade with Pasadena High School and Marshall sixth-eighth grade stays at Marshall; Merge Blair ninth-12th with Muir High School and Blair sixth-eighth with Octavia E. Butler Middle School The committee voted on Chromebooks and in addition to voting yes or no on each scenario had the option to provide written feedback that will also be provided to the Board of Education.
During Monday’s nearly two hour meeting, several committee members criticized the months long process that led up to the vote and many hinted at voting against any mergers or simply abstaining from the vote.involving some on the board who appeared to have been attempting to orchestrate the consolidation process before a formal agreement had been reached with third-party consultant Total School Solutions. Joseph Pandolfo, executive vice president with TSS, opened Monday’s meeting by saying he could not comment on the report because it, “deals with possible, pending litigation.
” Protesters gathered outside the district office Monday evening and made their way into the hallway outside the second floor room once the meeting began. Parents and students from schools in consideration for closure have been a constant presence at previous committee meetings. On Monday, they called the process a sham. Trustees will be presented with the committee’s feedback and a draft Equity Impact Analysis at the Thursday, May 28, meeting.
An additional public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, June 11. On Saturday, June 13, the trustees will hold a study session ahead of the final vote on any potential mergers scheduled for Thursday, June 25. Blanco said Monday that while the planned process is set up to have any potential mergers taking effect for the 2027-2028 school year, the Board of Education has the discretion to alter that timeline.
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PASADENA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMUNITY OPPOSITION CLOSURE ENROLLMENT DECLINES
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