School Board, Council Discuss Use of Vacant Campuses

On Monday the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education discussed the possible sale or swap of surplus Pasadena Unified properties.

As PUSD Superintendent Dr. Brian McDonald explained to the Council, the closure of five campuses in the last two years has left the district with a number of empty campuses.

Last week, the PUSD initiated a Facilities Task Force to explore solutions to potentially dispose of the former campuses of Allendale, Jefferson, Linda Vista and Roosevelt elementary schools along with the District’s Hudson Avenue headquarters.

“We are at the point now where we have to determine how to dispose of our property,” McDonald said.

Once the property is recommended for surplus it has to go through a 7-11 committee, the only committee that can declare property surplus. That committee will consist of parents, staff and community members. The committee will make a recommendation to the board on which properties should be declared surplus properties and recommend potential uses for the properties.

That process could take between 12 to 18 months. Councilwoman Margaret McAustin said that the process could be sped up with state intervention.

“I would ask you go to the state legislature with this in hand and say ‘Look, we want to provide affordable housing. We have these sites. Help us. Is there a way to facilitate the process through the state, can there be special legislation?'” said Margaret McAustin.

Several School Board members have discussed the opportunity to use the properties as affordable housing.

“We’ve discussed, and I would say, there has been consensus on the board, to include either affordable or workforce housing as a potential use for any of the sites that we’ve determined,” said Board President Patrick Cahalan.

Cahalan said the Facilities Task Force would have to determine which sites are viable for affordable housing, the city would also be asked to provide input on the potential land use of the site.

The task force would also check for alternative uses that come with revenue that offsets the viability of affordable housing at the site and if the alternative use is also one that provides a service for the students or the district.

“There are a lot of options we have not yet discussed,” said Board Member Kimberly Kenne.

Board Member Michelle Bailey said she did not support selling any of the properties, but would support developing them into affordable or workforce housing.

Other solutions include property leasing or property swaps.

Cahalan explained to the Council that national and worldwide birth rates have been dropping in the last 25 years, and that families are moving not only out of the city but out of the state, because of the high cost of housing.

Some two bedroom apartments in Pasadena are now renting for more than $3,000.

Pasadena’s attendance has dropped from nearly 38,000 in the ‘90s to just over 16,000 now, he said.

Affordable housing is one of the main issues in the local elections. City Council elections will be held on March and PUSD elections will be held in November.

“Affordable housing is a key part of this election because voters are hurting,” said District 6 Candidate Ryan Bell. “Gentrification is driving homelessness, families are being priced out of their neighborhood and the vast majority of the housing being built is for people who earn six figures. It’s not sustainable and people are understandably angry.”

In 2018, the school board supported a rent control initiative that failed after the organizers were unsuccessful in gathering the required signatures.