Felita Kealing - District 1
1. Why do you want to be on the School Board?
I am committed to serving on the PUSD School Board because I am passionate about public education and believe every child deserves access to a free and equitable education. Given the district's ongoing challenges with student achievement, parental engagement, and community involvement, I am confident that my collaborative approach to working with stakeholders will strengthen the board's effectiveness across all critical areas. My commitment to teamwork, accountability to district leadership, and fiscal stewardship positions me to make meaningful contributions. As an educational advocate with extensive knowledge of the Pasadena Unified School District across multiple dimensions, I am well-positioned to bring valuable perspective and experience to the PUSD School Board.
2. What qualities do you have that will make you an effective board member?
Leveraging my core strengths in strategic vision, analytical capability, and collaborative excellence, I am committed to serving effectively as a PUSD Board Member. Effective board members bring authentic passion to the body they serve. They maintain strong connections to the mission, the communities they represent, and the organization's collective success. A board member must embrace their responsibility as a governance and leadership figure. This encompasses examining issues through multiple lenses—including student achievement, fiscal accountability, parent engagement, equity, and collaborative partnerships.
3. What do you see as PUSD’s greatest opportunities and challenges?
PUSD’s greatest opportunities are its educational system and the structure of learning that happens inthe classroom. It is enhanced by the graduation requirements and standards that are scaffolded from elementary to graduation and the standards introduced beginning with the Class of 2019 that have lifted PUSD’s graduation rate. This includes the UC and CSU A through G requirements, the Senior Defense, and the College and Career Pathway program. This alone has increased college readiness and college acceptance rates for PUSD to public institutions and private colleges. It has helped our students aspire to greater heights. Other opportunities include being in a culturally rich environment, within a community of arts, museums, and history. Here within the Pasadena Unified School District, we have a foundation of goodness that can develop and grow.
Conversely, PUSD’s greatest challenges stem from a pervasive lack of belief in PUSD’s strong foundation.
While low birthrates and declining enrollment are real factors, the core hurdle is that roughly 50% of the students in our community have traditionally chosen not to attend local public schools. This gap reveals a critical need to rebuild community confidence and actively market the district’s successes to families and the community.
The challenge is compounded by an evolving community composition in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, which has led some families to depart owing to displacement and the heightened cost of living in the area. Navigating these population shifts demands attention to aging infrastructure, facility preservation, and contemporary upgrades. Yet, as we move forward, there remains an encouraging prospect of residents reestablishing themselves in our neighborhood as rebuilding initiatives progress—a constructive outlook anchored in community fortitude rather than deterministic forecasting.
4. A characteristic of an effective school board is that it allocates resources to the greatest needs. Given the ongoing budget concerns and declining enrollment, what are your top funding priorities?
An effective school board member prioritizes policy and governance that drives student achievement for learners of all abilities. To reach this goal, my top funding priorities are protecting direct classroom instruction, early childhood literacy, and targeted interventions. Maintaining this focus requires clear prioritization, especially when balancing fiscal constraints with low birthrates and declining enrollment.
Faced with potential school consolidations, as a board member I plan to act proactively rather than reactively and develop feasible, data-driven cost-reduction strategies that protect the classroom. My approach would center on three key actions:
Executing long-term district objectives instead of short-term fixes.
Conducting a thorough examination of non-instructional spending to eliminate waste.
Safely right-sizing our facilities to ensure our remaining neighborhood schools stay sustainable and properly resourced.
As a strategic communicator, I am committed to complete transparency regarding PUSD’s financial position. I will work honestly alongside our community to implement the administrative changes necessary to keep PUSD's investments concentrated exactly where they belong: supporting the students learning in our classrooms.
5. As a school board member, how would you ensure that PUSD is meeting the needs of ALL students and their families?
Board policy should be focussed and set with emphasis on advancing student achievement outcomes. Our goals should be raising literacy and math proficiency while closing equity gaps for historically marginalized subgroups. Parent involvement and connection should be collaborative with conversations that include actively listening and honest dialog. Parents who entrust their students to attend PUSD schools should always have a seat at the table.
6. What is the role of the school board in relation to keeping the Superintendent and the district executive leadership accountable?
The role of the Board of Education is directly related to the Superintendent of Schools. It is the board's responsibility to hire, oversee, and evaluate the Superintendent and their performance including meeting goals through their day to day operation. It is the board’s role to provide the vision, the policy, and set the goals. It is the Superintendent’s job to direct their leadership team. Not the Board of Education Members.
7. PEN and other parent organizations serve as intermediaries between the district and families. How would you use those relationships, and what would you expect from organizations like PEN in return?
My return to PUSD as a parent was catalyzed by my committed participation in the Parent Education Network (PEN). I understand that schools flourish when grounded in trust and authentic human connection. My diverse roles—as an advocate, community participant, volunteer, and PUSD staff member—have substantially strengthened my appreciation for the community of my origin. Through 14 years of service on the Pasadena Educational Foundation Board and my professional work in Marketing and Public Relations at Thurgood Marshall within the Pasadena Unified School District, I have developed a strong foundation for fostering collaborative relationships throughout our entire community.
I have come to appreciate PEN, the work that has been done over the past 20 years including the resources and essential collaborative allies PEN has built. Like all partnerships and collaborations, the expansion of professional networks, the effective sharing of collective resources, and a commitment to listening that will bottomline ensure student needs remain at the forefront of the decision-making.
8. What experience do you have working collaboratively with different kinds of people and how would you build consensus among your fellow board members and the diverse stakeholders that make up our school district?
Throughout my life in school, business, boards, committees, and organizations, I have worked extensively with individuals across diverse cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and all levels of an organization. These experiences have broadened my perspective, enhanced my interpersonal skills, and deepened my ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Additionally, my participation on several nonprofit boards and committees has heightened my community awareness while enriching my skills as a strategist, advocate, and public policymaker.
To build consensus among fellow board members and the diverse stakeholders within our school district, I rely on a collaborative process centered on active listening, addressing specific concerns, working through objectives, and establishing clear priorities. Listening is the vital foundation of this approach, as even subtle nuances in word choice can shift an entire intention. Ultimately, my focus remains firmly on our shared, core objectives: driving student achievement and establishing the resource policies necessary for the long-term success of our students and schools.
9. If you have children, where do they attend school, or if they’ve graduated from high school, where did they attend school?
Both of my sons attended Pasadena Unified School District Schools, Webster K-5, and Marshall 6 - 12. Graduating from Marshall in 2019 and 2020.
Learn more about Ms. Kealing at her website: https://www.healingwithkealing.com