Pasadena School Board Votes to Close Wilson Middle School; Spares High Schools

The Pasadena Board of Education voted Thursday to keep open all four District high schools – Pasadena, John Muir, Blair, and Marshall – and close Wilson Middle School.

The vote, before scores of Pasadena Unified community members who packed the Board chamber and overflow rooms, came in the face of a declining District enrollment and reduced school revenues.

The high school vote was 5-1, with one abstention.

Board Members Roy Boulghourjian, Michelle Richardson-Bailey, Elizabeth Pomeroy, Scott Phelps, and Board President Lawrence Torres voted in favor of the resolution, while Board Member Patrick Cahalan voted no. Board Member Kimberly Kenne abstained.

The Board also approved, by a 4-3 vote, to close Wilson and keep open three stand-alone middle schools—Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy, Sierra Madre Middle School—as well as Marshall Fundamental School grades 6-12, Blair School grades 6-12 and McKinley School grades 6-8.

Board Members Boulghourjian, Pomeroy, Phelps, and PUSD Board President Torres voted in favor of closing Wilson, while Board Members Richardson-Bailey, Kenne, and Cahalan voted against.

Wilson’s District boundaries are still to be decided, said Pasadena Unified Superintendent Dr. Brian McDonald.

McDonald seemed frustrated Thursday about the possibility of school closings.

Reacting to charges that the PUSD was “favoring white schools,” McDonald said bluntly, “There are no white schools in the district. This is a predominantly Latino district.”

McDonald continued, “We have to think about what we want our district to be. We can’t just move students around and give them school choices.”

Board Member Patrick Cahalan told the board, “I’m not comfortable keeping all the high schools open, but I will support whatever the Board wants.”

Board Member Kenne supported the idea of further discussions on school consolidations and said she was “concerned we will do too little tonight, and then we just await the next crisis.”

Kenne also said that should the District close Wilson, it should have to provide buses. Both she and Board Member Phelps disagreed with Board President Torres who said last week that a single bus would cost $500,000, and said the cost was more likely closer to $90,000 a year.

PUSD Chief Academic Officer Elizabeth Blanco, asked by Phelps to assess the District’s current situation, said, “Each school has a unique culture, and there are no schools that we want to close. As long as we are able to keep all four high schools open we should do so.”

PUSD Chief Human Resources Officer Stephen Miller, agreed, telling the board, “It’s up to us to support our high schools. As long as we can hold on to our high schools, we should try.”

Richardson-Bailey also spoke out in support of Wilson Middle School.

“Our students are not widgets,” she said. “They can’t just be moved around. Consider all schools evenly.” Bailey-Richardson added that she “didn’t want to jeopardize even one student’s educational career.”

Bailey-Richardson also asked Board Members about the possibility of merging Willard Elementary and Wilson, but was told that the suggestion could not be considered, since such a motion was not agendized.

Chief Financial Officer Leslie Barnes told the Board that “The declining enrollment will continue. Birth rates continue to drop, and people keep moving out.” But Barnes added, “It’s premature to close high schools. Blair needs to be given a chance.”

Barnes also noted that “If Marshall is closed, people will leave the district.”

“We have too many middle schools,” she continued. “Wilson makes the most sense.”

The vote was precipitated by a series of presentations by large groups of students, faculty and supporters, each speaking fervently against the closing of their schools.

The closings follow a vote last month to close Jefferson, Franklin and Roosevelt elementary schools and combine them with other campuses, as part of the District’s years-long budget battle.

Lower birth rates nationwide, the high cost of local housing and the rise of charter schools in the District have all been cited as factors in the dramatic plummeting of student numbers citywide. The lower numbers have lowered the amount of state money the school district receives from the state, an amount which is based on daily attendance.

“Enrollment has been dropping since 2000,” said Board Member Scott Phelps recently. “We’ve closed 10 schools since 2000.” The PUSD Board also closed Cleveland Elementary School last year.

According to a PUSD Boundary Subcommittee report, each student loss represents a revenue loss of approximately $10,100, representing a total revenue loss of $17.3 million over the next 6 years.

PUSD has been fighting a budget battle over the last four years, and its current budget still contains $4 million in reductions for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Five million dollars from Measure J sales tax revenue has been used to backfill lost revenue due to declining enrollment and to preserve signature programs and arts & music programs without reductions.