Gathering Friday Celebrates Agreement Over Madison Elementary Playground’s Use as a Park by Neighborhood

A 6 p.m. gathering Friday by neighbors of Madison Elementary School marked a key moment in that neighborhood’s tumultuous path towards the school’s playground and field once again becoming available as a public park when school is not in session.

Residents celebrated the renewal of an agreement between the City of Pasadena and the Pasadena Unified School District which became effective on April 18. It allows use of the playground and field as a neighborhood park after 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

During the summer, the grounds will be open for community use between 4 and 8 p.m. during the week.

Neighborhood leaders, including Pablo Alvarado who represents the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, planned activities for Friday night’s celebration, including soccer and basketball games.

Mercy Santoro, Pasadena Unified’s Associate Superintendent, said the district is working on putting up signs on the gates and around the school to let the neighborhood know they can use the school playground as a park at certain hours of the day.

“We’re just generally very pleased that the city and the school district can partner to provide Madison as a neighborhood park and that it encourages our families to come together to recreate and promote physical activity and better health outcomes, which is ultimately the goal of shared use agreements in general,” Santoro said.

Santoro reminded residents that organized activities at the school grounds are still required to go through the district’s permit process before they can be held.

Use of Madison’s playground by the community was temporarily discontinued after a Joint Use Agreement (JUA) signed in 2006 expired in 2011.

At least once, community members were surprised after hours when school custodians asked them to leave the playground – and even called in police – because the agreement was no longer in effect.

“The community had continually used the field through mid-2015 and city staff maintained and locked it on weekends – until PUSD staff changed the locks during construction and our ability to get in to maintain became challenged,” recalls Vannia De La Cuba, Councilmember Victor Gordo’s field representative. “When the new principal came in, we all realized the JUA had expired. Madison was added back to the Master JUA in March of this year by both bodies. The community is now legally able to use the field and playground during weekends and certain non-school hours.”

In the flyer for Friday’s event, Alvarado recalled how hard neighbors fought to get the agreement back in effect.

“In the face of so much violence and hostilities in our streets, we thank the neighbors who are fighting back and not allowing anyone to build a fortress around what should be a community school. And in the spirit of building peace in our neighborhood, we invite community members to join us tomorrow after 6:00 p.m. at the Madison playground for an afternoon of basketball, soccer and friendship,” the flyer said.

Details about the use of the school playground on PUSD’s website say the agreement for joint use also allows use of playground equipment during the times the area is open for public use. The site also states the park can be used for casual picnics, for walking and jogging and other healthy outdoor activities and for pickup games.

Click here to view MADISON ELEMENTARY CITY/SCHOOL JOINT USE AGREEMENT