City and School District Hold Joint Meeting, Address Collaboration on Various Projects

The City of Pasadena and Pasadena Unified School District convened a special joint meeting on May 12 and elected representatives addressed multiple collaborative initiatives, including recovery efforts following the Eaton Fire, utilization of the Jefferson Campus, early childhood education programs, and a proposed workforce housing project.

“Our theme has been this year ‘The Power of Us,” and the Eaton Fire has certainly created an opportunity for us to solidify our bonds together and to work for our community,” said Pasadena Unified School District Board President Jennifer Hall Lee during her opening remarks.

City Manager Miguel Márquez detailed the coordinated emergency response by the City during the Eaton Fire, noting constant communication between City departments and the School District.

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Blanco spoke about the fire’s devastating impact on the District community.

“We have about 120 employees that lost their homes,” she said. “And close to a thousand students have lost their homes.”

Dr. Blanco also described ongoing efforts to monitor student enrollment impacts, as some families have been displaced from the area.

Discussion during the meeting addressed the joint use of Jefferson Elementary School, where four city departments currently operate programs: Libraries and Information Services; Parks, Recreation and Community Services; the Fire Department, and Police Department.

Library Director Tim McDonald presented statistics showing that Jefferson Branch Library had positively impacted an estimated 2,116 Pasadena Unified School District students through various programs over the past year.

During this discussion, School Board Member Patrice Marshall McKenzie inquired about Pasadena’s decade-long initiative to become an “early learning city” by 2025.

“Has there been any report on the success of said initiative? Are there any outcomes? Are there any lessons learned? Are there any metrics?” McKenzie asked.

McDonald confirmed that while the Office of the Young Child currently has a coordinator vacancy, the city is using outside consultants to maintain momentum.

“The designation of Pasadena as an early learning city by this year of 2025 was one of the goals of the first adoption of the city’s early childhood development policy,” McDonald explained, noting that a celebration event originally planned for March was postponed due to the Eaton Fire and rescheduled for September.

Councilmember Rick Cole called for greater accountability regarding the initiative’s outcomes.

“I would like to see a report come back to us about what happened over the last 10 years, what did we achieve? What were the activities we put on, what were the outcomes so we can learn from that and not just celebrate that, but actually build upon that going forward,” he said.

Mayor Victor Gordo told the assembly that such reporting is built into the program.

A significant portion of the meeting focused on Pasadena Unified School District’s proposed faculty and staff workforce housing project at the former Roosevelt Elementary campus. Pasadena Unified Chief Business Officer Saman Bravo-Karimi presented plans for 110 rental units.

“This includes teachers and staff of any kind, and this need is made even more urgent following the Eaton Fires,” Bravo-Karimi said, describing the project’s purpose to create affordable housing for District employees.

Several councilmembers —notably Tyron Hampton and Jason Lyon —expressed concerns about the level of community engagement conducted for the housing project.

“Having meaningful meetings means a lot to the residents of Pasadena,” Hampton said, encouraging more robust neighborhood outreach for the proposal.

Board Member Michelle Richardson Bailey defended the District’s approach.

“The School Board, the School District, the superintendent, all the staff, we’re going to do our due diligence in planning this thing out,” she said. “This is for the community. This is not just for us doing something to be doing something.”

Multiple officials called for more frequent joint meetings between the City and the School District.

School Board Member Scott Harden suggested forming task forces to address shared challenges.

“Let’s identify common problems and solve them together,” Harden said. “And it persists way beyond the problems of this year and next year.”

The meeting adjourned in memory of Nate Holden, father of former Pasadena Councilmember and Mayor Chris Holden, and a longtime public servant.