The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will hold a public hearing Thursday on whether every student has sufficient textbooks and instructional materials for the 2026-27 school year, then vote on a resolution certifying that they do.
The hearing is an annual step required by state law to keep the district eligible for instructional materials funding, and it arrives on an agenda that also carries a Multi-Tiered System of Supports update. Together the two items give families in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre a look at what is in their children’s classrooms and at the system the district uses to decide which students need more help.
The meeting is to be called to order at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 24, in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, at 351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena. Trustees recess to closed session at 5:10 p.m. and reconvene in open session at 7:30 p.m. All noted time designations are approximate, and the agenda posted for Thursday is a revised version.
The public hearing notice and Resolution 2902 both state the hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. The agenda places the hearing after a public comment period set for 7:30 to 8 p.m.
The hearing covers the sufficiency of instructional materials in mathematics, science, history-social science, reading/language arts and foreign language for courses offered in grades K-12.
Resolution 2902 states that for the 2026-27 school year the district “has provided each student with sufficient standards-aligned textbooks or instructional materials that are consistent with the cycles and content of the curriculum frameworks.” It also states that laboratory science equipment was available for science laboratory classes offered in grades 9-12. The resolution’s vote lines for ayes, noes, abstentions and absences are blank.
Education Code 60119 requires the governing board of every California school district to hold the hearing on or before the end of the eighth week from the first day students attend school, to post notice at least 10 days in advance in at least three public places, to hold it outside of and not immediately following school hours, and to adopt a resolution stating whether each student has sufficient materials. Attached lists name the adopted titles by course, among them iReady Classroom mathematics volumes for kindergarten through fifth grade, Classroom Mathematics CA for grades 6 through 8, Into Reading for elementary English language arts and Amplify Integrated Science for middle school.
The MTSS item is a presentation with clarifying questions only and no board discussion or action. A district presentation titled “MTSS: Forward Together” describes the framework as “A tiered system providing strategic, differentiated interventions, using screeners, progress monitoring, and targeted programs to address students’ academic, attendance, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.”
The presentation states PUSD is now implementing MTSS Framework 4.0 and sets out goals to be reached by June 2030, each measured by the CAASPP test. The share of third-graders scoring advanced or proficient in English language arts would rise from 51% in 2024-25 to 75% in 2029-30. In mathematics, the share of fifth-graders scoring advanced or proficient would rise from 34% in 2024-25 to 70%, and the share of eighth-graders from 30% to 60%. The share of students qualifying as prepared on the College Career Indicator, for the combined four- and five-year graduate cohorts, would rise from 48.4% in 2023-24 to 75%.
The presentation also sets targeted increases for subgroups. In third-grade English language arts, Black and African American students would rise from 25.4% to 60% and Hispanic and Latino students from 38.4% to 65%. In fifth-grade mathematics, Black and African American students would rise from 11.6% to 70% and Hispanic and Latino students from 20.6% to 70%; in eighth grade, from 7% to 60% and from 17% to 60%. Among graduates on the College Career Indicator, Black and African American students would rise from 45.7% to 75% and Hispanic and Latino students from 40.6% to 75%.
The presentation describes foundations already built. All leaders have been trained through the Instructional Leadership Academy for common expectations for first instruction and small-group structures, all schools have been trained in restorative practices, peer mediation and conflict resolution, and the attendance focus is Showing Up Matters For REAL.
At each campus, a representative team of administrators, teachers and support staff meets regularly to review data, monitor progress and make decisions on tiered supports. The team screens all students, plans an intervention where risk is identified, then implements and monitors it for six to eight weeks before continuing and fading the support or adjusting it.
The testing calendar runs on a set cadence. A reading and math diagnostic is administered in September, beginning-of-year data is analyzed in October, and social-emotional learning and California Healthy Kids Survey collection follows in November. A second diagnostic comes in January, mid-year analysis and strategy identification in February, ELPAC summative results and the close of social-emotional learning and school climate surveys in April, and CAASPP and a third diagnostic in May, before end-of-year analysis in June.
For 2026-27 the presentation lists a priority of establishing district-wide common practices, including building capacity in the use of Panorama’s Student Success platform and establishing student groups of focus based on site and district goals. Coaching is both site-based and centralized, with six centralized coaches supporting three schools each and the level of support based on alignment with target groups in board goals. Professional learning targets identified critical needs including multigrade classroom teachers and the California Math Framework, covering K-5 implementation and secondary pedagogical support.
A Central Office Support Team, in its third year, assigns central office staff to every principal for classroom walkthroughs, goal check-ins, thought partnership and at least monthly check-ins. The leadership practices the presentation names as high impact are collecting and analyzing data to make informed decisions, giving strengths-based feedback, leading teams to support continuous improvement, and reflecting on their work.
A second action item asks the board to approve a dedicated PUSD webpage that would serve as a centralized location for relevant data resources and materials under Resolution 2894.
Three policy items come to the board for first reading and discussion only, with no action Thursday: Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 6146.3 on reciprocity of academic credit, Board Policy 7110 on the facilities master plan, and Board Bylaw and Exhibit 9310 on board policies. The 9310 item presents CSBA’s proposed revisions with modifications reflecting district practices in the process for developing board policies, and adds PUSD-specific language requiring full board discussion whenever new PUSD-specific language is proposed for a policy or regulation.
The consent agenda carries six commemorative resolutions, including Anti-Bullying Month, Walk to School, Red Ribbon Week, Week of the School Administrator, LGBTQ+ History Month and Lights After School. It also asks trustees to determine that a local emergency continues under Resolutions 2797 and 2798.
Other consent items are tied to fire recovery. They include ratification of a second change order with Silver Creek Modular for the Franklin Elementary School rebuild fire-damaged building project, and a CMAS contract with Kya Services to replace the John Muir High School baseball scoreboard as part of wildfire recovery.
Eight closed-session items are noticed for 5:10 p.m. Five are existing-litigation conferences: three identified only by case number, one listed with no case number, and one identified as Pasadena Unified School District v. The City of Pasadena, Case No. 26STCP02735. An anticipated-litigation item is described as three cases and a board response to cure and correct demands. The remaining items are public employment discipline, dismissal or release, and a conference with the district’s labor negotiator, Dr. Sergio Canal, chief human resources officer, covering UTP, CSEA, Teamsters and unrepresented employees. Before the recess, the public may comment on closed-session items; afterward, the board publicly announces any action taken.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Speakers complete a yellow card near the entrance and give it to the recording secretary at the beginning of the meeting, regardless of when they plan to speak, indicating on the card whether they wish to speak during the initial comment period or at a particular agenda item. Individual speakers get one to three minutes, with 30 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting and 20 minutes of public input per agenda item; a majority of the board may adjust those allotments, done equitably to allow a diversity of viewpoints. A further public comment period on non-agendized items follows the consent agenda.
Written comments go to publiccomment@pusd.us marked “Public Comment”; they are not read aloud but are added to the archived agenda documents, and all board members receive copies of email sent to that address. Spanish interpretation is available at the meeting, and Spanish and ASL translation requests go to the same address at least 24 hours before the start time. Accommodation requests go to the Superintendent’s office at 626-396-3619 at least 48 hours in advance.
The full agenda and attachments are posted here.
The meeting is broadcast on Charter Cable Channel 95 and streamed at http://live.boardmeetings.info
The three policies presented for first reading Thursday will return to the board at a future meeting for consideration and adoption, according to the agenda.
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