San Rafael Neighborhood Association: ‘Future of San Rafael Elementary School at Risk’

The San Rafael Neighborhoods Association expressed its derision after San Rafael Elementary School was not listed as a top campus to receive Measure O funding.

“The San Rafael Neighborhood Association was disappointed that the San Rafael Elementary School was not selected as a priority campus to receive Measure O funding by the Pasadena Unified School Board and calls on the PUSD Board to reconsider.”

According to a statement by the association, the decision of the PUSD Board to ignore the school’s state of disrepair creates significant uncertainty about San Rafael Elementary’s long-term ability to continue operations.

The PUSD Facilities Master Plan used six criteria to prioritize campuses for Measure O funding. 

“The criteria PUSD used to prioritize campuses recognizes that San Rafael Elementary is the campus most in need of repair and the school that received the second lowest level of Measure TT funding,” according to the statement.

Measure TT was a $250 million school bond measure passed in 2008 to fund repairs and upgrades to PUSD. 

“This clearly demonstrates that not only is San Rafael Elementary the campus most in need of repair, but it has been consistently denied necessary funding for improvements by PUSD. Therefore, it is unconscionable that PUSD has chosen to continue to deny San Rafael Elementary the funding desperately needed for campus improvements.”

According to the SRNA,  San Rafael Elementary prioritization for Measure O funding was penalized with the use of an arbitrary equity assessment criteria measurement. 

“SRE was assigned the second lowest equity assessment across PUSD campuses. While we support the importance of equity across our community the measurement used was simplistic and should not be used to deny funding to schools that are in desperate need of repair. The equity assessment PUSD employed simply prioritized schools with higher concentrations of students with special needs. This simplistic approach encourages campuses with concentrated levels of disadvantages and low-income students as opposed to integrated campuses with students from a mixed level of low, moderate and more affluent households.”

The association is calling on the Pasadena Unified School Board to reconsider its criteria and prioritize the necessary repairs at San Rafael Elementary for Measure O funding. 

“Failure to reconsider will put the future of San Rafael Elementary at risk. Without Measure O funding the condition of the campus will deteriorate until it is simply no longer viable to continue operating as a school. We strongly hope that the PUSD Board understand the necessity of retaining the only public elementary school in West Pasadena.”

A copy of the Pasadena Unified Facilities Master Plan can be accessed by clicking here: PUSD Facilities Master Plan