Months of meetings, town halls and data presentations have led to Monday, May 11, when the Pasadena Unified School District’s consolidation advisory committee will be voting on what recommendations to send to the Board of Education.
Total Schools Solution (TSS), the third-party firm contracted by the district to lead the process, has had an uphill battle trying to convince parents and students that merging schools could not just benefit PUSD financially, but also strengthen academics and programs.
TSS Executive Vice President Joseph Pandolfo has repeatedly referred to the consolidation process as being a “growth model.” The turn of phrase has been met with PUSD shaking their heads and sarcastic chuckles.
The consultant’s argument, presented by Pandolfo, is that merging two schools allows students from both to benefit from programs offered at the other that they currently don’t have access to.
PUSD parents have pushed back on that philosophy, saying that it goes against the “DNA” of what makes the district special. Having a choice between several types of schools, some with specialized programs and some traditional.
This dichotomy was on display at the latest town hall on consolidation last month when more than 30 parents spoke in opposition to the process. What emerged from the comments were different versions of the same story: parents selecting their child’s school for a specific reason tailored to the child.
Emma Green, a current Thurgood Marshall Secondary School parent, talked about Marshall being a better fit for one of her children while her other child went to Pasadena High School.
“Having gone through PHS with my older son, which worked for him, I just knew it wasn’t the right environment for my younger son at all,” Green said this week. “He wouldn’t have flourished there and I do feel it would have been detrimental to him and his personality, so thankfully we were able to put him into Marshall, which was the perfect fit.”
Green said that if Marshall had not been an option, her family would have likely looked outside the district or at a private high school instead. In elementary school, her two kids also went to different schools based on what fit each of them best.
A media inquiry sent to Total School Solutions was directed to PUSD officials.Green believes the consultants don’t have an understanding of why people chose PUSD and are attempting to make it like surrounding districts.
“There’s a reason that we didn’t move to Arcadia, there’s a reason that we moved to Pasadena and there’s a reason that we chose PUSD over different school districts that have one gigantic high school because that’s no choice,” Green said. “You’re squeezing the kids into one educational experience and if they don’t fit, tough, and that’s not what PUSD does.”
On Monday, the committee will be voting on whether to recommend the following scenarios for the Board of Education to consider:
- Merge Don Benito Elementary School to Willard Elementary School;
- Merge Webster Elementary School to Longfellow Elementary School and Norma Coombs Elementary School or Merge Norma Coombs to Webster;
- Merge Eliot Arts Magnet and McKinley School and close McKinley (TK-5). McKinley elementary grade students would go to Hamilton, Madison or Washington;
- Merge Thurgood Marshall 9th-12th grade with Pasadena High School and Marshall 6th-8th grade stays at Marshall;
- Merge Blair 9th-12th with Pasadena High School and Blair 6th-8th with Marshall Middle School or;
- Merge Blair 9th-12th with Muir High School and Blair 6th-8th with Octavia E. Butler Middle School or;
- Merge Blair 9th-12th with Muir High School and Blair 6th-8th with Marshall Middle School.
The Blair and Marshall communities defended the 6th-12th grade model that is proposed to be split by the scenarios. They’ve described it as its own PUSD program that should be valued like any other.
Mary Stevens, a product of Pasadena Unified School District and Marshall graduate, has worked at her alma mater for 21 years, first as a teacher and now as an instructional and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) coach.
Stevens is also a PUSD parent.
She experienced two sides of the 6th-12th model and said having the stability of one school during those years set her up for success. For instance, Stevens had the same guidance counselor from the time she registered as a sixth grader.
“They’re here for such a long time, the families are really invested, the students, the parents, everyone is invested in making sure that we maintain and sustain this culture that we’ve worked so hard to cultivate here,” Stevens said.
The final decision on consolidation lies with the Board of Education, which is expected to vote on potential closures at its Thursday, June 25, meeting. Prior to that final meeting, the public will be able to speak at two public hearings on the topic scheduled for May 28 and June 11.
TJ Teems has been a PUSD parent for 18 years. Next year, her daughter will be graduating from Marshall in what could be the final high school class at the school, should the district follow one of the proposed scenarios.
Teems said the district’s open enrollment/lottery system allowed her family to research and tour different schools to find not the “best school,” but the best school for their children. Being a former public school teacher with experience at the middle school grade levels, Teems had seen the challenge at that time in a child’s life transitioning to a new school. That’s why her family selected the 6th-12th model for their kids.
Unlike a traditional middle school, Teems said, students are able to be in programs like theater where they can work together with high schoolers and benefit from the mentorship and collaboration.
“There are choices out there and if PUSD doesn’t have diversity within it then parents will go outside of it,” Teems said.
Monday’s meeting begins at 5 p.m. and will be held at 351 S. Hudson Ave. Room 236.