PUSD Board to Identify Priority Schools, Projects in 10-Year, $500 Million Facilities Improvements Plan

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education will determine this Thursday, Sept. 7 which of the campuses and projects will be prioritized in its plan to improve facilities. 

The meeting will be held at Elbie Hickambottom Board Room #236 351 S. Hudson Avenue, Pasadena at 8 p.m.

The PUSD Board is working on its Facilities Master Plan, which will define and prioritize the district’s facilities needs for the next 10 years.

Some of the buildings need upgrades to accommodate new models of learning, serve the needs of families in the area and ensure that they adhere to the latest safety standards, according to PUSD. 

According to the report of DLR group, lead architect on the master plan, at the upcoming meeting, the board will identify the top three priority campuses.

At the last board meeting, board members said Longfellow Elementary, Madison Elementary and San Rafael Elementary have greater need for improvements.

For middle school, the schools that need to be prioritized based on the board meeting survey are Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, Octavia E. Butler Magnet, McKinley and Sierra Madre.

For High Schools, the board identified Marshall Fundamental, John Muir, Pasadena and Blair to have greater need for improvements.

At the upcoming meeting, the board will also choose three initial projects to begin in summer of 2025. 

The board will also decide on schedules for other initial projects and will review Measure O available funds and recent fund allocations.

Measure O was a 2020 bond measure that authorized Pasadena Unified to issue up to $516.3 million in bonds to upgrade schools, improve equitable access to technology, attract and retain quality teachers by repairing deteriorating classrooms, bathrooms, roofs, and science labs, as well as removing hazardous materials and providing safe drinking water. 

Measure O was passed on November 3, 2020, with 62% of voters supporting it.

During the board’s August workshop, board members identified that the priorities must be to transform preK-12 facilities to incorporate specifications in the educational master plan, upgrade athletic facilities at high schools, and replace existing utilities and infrastructures and upgrade restrooms.

Secondary priorities identified are to implement environmental standards to reduce heat island effect and conserve water and remove relocatable classrooms or replace them with permanent buildings.

The remaining $300.3 million in Measure O funds will be used to fund the priority projects which will be determined by the board, according to the report of DLR Group.

The upcoming meeting will be broadcasted live on Charter Cable Channel 95 and on the internet at http://live.boardmeetings.info