Layoffs, School Closures On The Table For Pasadena Unified

PASADENA, CA — The Pasadena Unified school board Thursday will discuss a slate of options for getting the district's fiscal house in order, including closing Cleveland and Franklin Elementary schools and Wilson Middle School, it was reported Wednesday.

The board will not take any action on Thursday. Rather, it will study options presented by staff and advisory groups as part of its fiscal stability plan: The district needs to make $10.1 million in cuts for the 2020-21 school year, district interim Chief of Business Eva Lueck wrote in a report, according to the Pasadena Star-News.

Any closures would occur after this school year, the newspaper reported.

"This list is intended to be options for the board to consider," she wrote, according to the Star-News. "As the conversation evolves in the work study session, items will ultimately be removed and others added."

If all of the dozens of reductions are accepted by the board, it would result in $10.8 to $11.2 million in savings, so the board will indeed have options to meet its targeted 3 percent budget reductions.

Here are the school-closure recommendations devised by a community advisory committee:

• Close Wilson Middle School and transfer its programs to Washington STEAM and Blair middle schools. This would save an estimated $939,024 to $1.4 million;
• Close Cleveland Elementary School and transfer its programs to Washington Accelerated School. This would save an estimated $258,473 to $354,667.
• Close Franklin Elementary School and transfer its programs to Altadena Elementary School. This would save an estimated $384,950 to $565,994.

The projected savings take into account layoffs, facilities and maintenance costs, according to the Star-News. It also factors in the potential loss of revenues should families leave the district.

The campuses could be repurposed for other uses.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock