Pasadena Unified Board Asked to Consider Linda Vista Elementary School Re-opening

There are plans, but no money. There is desire on the part of the community, and there are more kids in the neighborhood, and there are even design and curriculum plans.  Yet the Linda Vista community is no closer to having a re-opened Linda Vista Elementary School than they were a year ago.

That didn’t stop a group of more than two dozen parents and young children from speaking up in front of the board before the evening’s formal agenda, in support of re-opening the elementary school campus.

As Linda Vista resident Greg Gelberg told the PUSD Board Thursday, the neighborhood demographic has changed and the community now has many young children without a local elementary school to attend.

“When we first moved in to the neighborhood five years ago, when we first went trick or treating, people said, ‘We haven’t had trick or treaters in 15 years!’ This past year, the streets were full of young children. Families are moving back to the neighborhood.”

But the decision to actually open the school depends on the Board, said PUSD Board Member Scott Phelps, who supports the decision, and personally stood in the board chamber hallway, greeting and thanking community members who addressed the board.

“I know that when we first signed a contract to have a firm go through the process and begin meeting with the community and try to deal with their concerns, traffic, and a myriad of other things, the president of the board wanted a formal decision,” said Phelps.

Phelps said the decision to re-open the school basically requires a vote and money.

“We don’t know where the money is going to come from,” he said. “There are several ideas on into the future, and there are still a lot of bond-funded projects going on. And then there are a lot of fund-raising ideas.”

As Phelps agreed, “People came here to say, ‘If you’re thinking about opening the school, we like that idea.’”

But for the time being, no formal vote on the matter has been scheduled.

According to an October 2016 staff report and board presentation, re-opening the Linda Vista campus with a Dual Language Immersion program would allow future expansion beyond the current San Rafael School campus, which is currently at capacity.

Mercy Santoro, former associate superintendent for the PUSD, said at the time, that Linda Vista was one of several schools which had closed over the last decade because of dramatically declining enrollments.

Santoro added at the time that the PUSD board will “look a little more closely at what the opportunities are at Linda Vista, because San Rafael School is at capacity. It’s a school of choice, and people are applying from all over the district to attend that school, and it always fills up, we never have enough spots available.”

“What we’re finding,” Santoro continued, “is that more and more families are also moving in to that area of the community, and are very interested in attending a PUSD school, which in the recent past, has not always been the case. They were exercising other options for private schools, but now they are calling us, and attending community meetings. They may have a three year-old, or are planning to move in to the area with the intention of wanting to see their child in a public school.”

According to PUSD Chief Facilities Officer Nelson Cayabyab, reopening the Linda Vista school would cost approximately $11 million.