City Council and Pasadena School Board Come Together for Joint Meeting

The City Council and the Pasadena Unified School District held their annual joint meeting on Monday evening.

“I am pleased we are going to emphasize the joint in our joint meeting,” said PUSD Board President Elizabeth Pomeroy.

There are 23 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District.

“We have a diverse group of students,” said Elizabeth Blanco, chief academic officer. “They range from gifted to having many challenges. They are all welcome. We are one big family at Pasadena Unified.”

The school board voted to reopen schools last May. Although about 400 students remain in the district’s independent studies program, which is about double the usual enrollment.

The district is still getting applications for students into CIS, the District’s Center for Independent Study.

“Those families seem to enjoy the program,” said Superintendent Brian McDonald. “We do have a dedicated teacher for every grade.”

Eighty-four percent of the students that are in the district from their freshman to senior years graduate.

The meeting included highlights of PUSD programs and a presentation on community safety intervention programs for local youth.

On Monday there was a gun scare at Pasadena High School.

District Superintendent Brian McDonald said the district was still gathering facts on the incident.

“We know there was a scare,” McDonald said. “We are still gathering information. Staff members went to the school to provide support. Once we investigate we will be able to provide the school the support it needs, especially the students. We do have plenty of support for students with their needs.”

The city spends more than $8 million on 29 programs designed to prevent individuals from becoming involved in criminal behavior or intervene and redirect others.

The programs are split into four categories, children and youth engagement, job training and career exploration, intervention and community security.

“Right now things are quiet, but that comes with a cost,” said Gang Interventionist Ricky Pickens. “We work harder when it’s quiet, because we’re working hard to make sure the next shooting doesn’t happen.”

The school board and the City Council also received a presentation on current joint use agreements by the district and the city, including the joint use of facilities.

The agreement dates back to 1978 when the two sides agreed to reciprocal use of recreation and school facilities for a 10 year period.

An amendment was reached in 1989 for another 10 years. The amendment excluded the city’s golf course, the Pasadena Center, the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, the Rose Bowl and the district’s swimming pools.

A presentation on the council’s newly developed Early Childhood Development and Early Learning Task Force was also part of Monday’s meeting.

Last week, the City Council unanimously approved an Early Childhood Development and Early Learning task force.

The task force will work with staff to review the status of the implementation of the early child development policy adopted by the City Council in 2015.

The task force will begin its work no later than March 15 and meet twice a month and report back to the council on the current status of implementation of policy, the policy’s alignment with the most recent science regarding best practices on implementing early childhood programs, and any policy changes needed to support the city’s youngest children and families die to immediate issues, including the pandemic, racial injustice, cycles of violence and economic instability.

All meetings will be held in accordance with the Brown Act.

The task force will present an update to the City Council no later than June 11 and forward a final report to the City Council on or before September 12 and sunset at that time.

The district is transitioning to universal transitional kindergarten.

Under the new system, eligibility will be expanded to include children who turn four by September 1st of the current school year.

Eligibility will be expanded incrementally over three years, to include three more months of birthdays each year.