School’s Out for Pasadena Unified Students, But Not for School Board

Even though the 2017-2018 school year is over for Pasadena Unified students, the Board of education continues its work with a meeting this week.

Here’s a look at the substantial agenda, which numbers many items addressing a wide range of topics including multiple awards.

Pasadena Board of Meeting A proposed agreement between the Pasadena Unified School District and Pasadena City College for a College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnership will be discussed Thursday, June 28, at a meeting of PUSD’s Board of Education, among other education-related items in the agenda.

A draft Memorandum of Understanding between PUSD and PCC – officially represented by the Pasadena Area Community College District (PACCD) – shows the agreement is related to earlier agreements for PCC to provide college credit courses for PUSD high school seniors, as provided by Assembly Bill 288.

The particular agreement will set the stage for a related Course Agreement for individual subject courses that will be part of the program. Each course will require a separate Course Agreement setting out the necessary details specific to the course, the draft MOU said.

Under the provisions of AB 288, a CCAPpartnership agreement will expand dual enrolment opportunities for students who may not already be college-bound or who are underrepresented in higher education, in order to develop “seamless pathways from high school to community college for career and technical education, preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, and helping high school students achieve college and career readiness,” the draft MOU said.

The Board of Education will also hold a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to rename the library at Sierra Madre Middle School for former Sierra Madre teacher Helen Pontarelli, who served PUSD for 41 years, from 1969 to 2010, and established the Sierra Madre Middle School Campus in 2004.

Pontarelli, among other things, was instrumental in encouraging research among her students that eventually led to the rediscovery and restoration of the Japanese Goodwill Gardena at Sierra Madre between 1993 and 1994.

A draft resolution about the renaming has been drafted, and depending on the results of the public heating could be approved Thursday. It showed Pontarelli was lead teacher, department chair and coach and mentor for beginning teachers, and has “demonstrated exceptional teaching through the integration of the arts, quality instruction, positive classroom management, teacher-student relationships, and community engagement.”

The draft resolution shows the proposal is to name the school’s library as the Helen Pontarelli Library.

The Board of Education may also decide Thursday to approve PUSD’s 2018-2019 budget, as well as a resolution that identifies budget reductions needed in the budget for fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.

The resolution, according to a draft attached to Thursday’s agenda, will require that the list of budget reductions be included in the 2018-2019 First Interim Report.

To see the full agenda, click here.

The Board of Education meeting starts with a closed session at 4:30 p.m. and proceeds to the public meeting at 5:30 p.m. The Board meets at the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room at the PUSD office, located at 351 South Hudson Avenue in Pasadena.