PEN's School Consolidation Meeting Notes
April 27, 2026
Most of last night’s school consolidation meeting was spent reviewing potential scenarios. New scenarios that were presented included merging Norma Coombs and Webster at the Webster campus. The consultants suggested that the preschool programs would be a better fit for Norma Coombs since it is a one story school. The additional new scenarios involved secondary schools.
1. Marshall middle remains at the Marshall campus and Marshall High School moves to PHS.
2. Blair HS moves to PHS and Blair middle moves to Marshall. In this scenario, there is only space at Marshall if the Marshall HS program moves to PHS.
3. Blair HS moves to Muir HS and Blair middle moves to Octavia Butler
4. Blair HS moves to Muir and Blair middle moves to Marshall
The committee noted a few concerns, among them, the large number of SPED students at a merged Don Benito and Willard school. Also, if PUSD wants to maintain the K-12 IB program, costs would likely go up if Blair middle and high school are split. All of the suggested scenarios, the benefits, challenges, and financial impact are outlined in the presentation which is available at https://www.pusd.us/about/superintendent/scac . Scroll down to Meetings & Resources.
School boundaries would need to be redrawn, but feeder patterns and transportation would likely not change. After working in groups, the committee was asked to vote between conflicting scenarios.
The final meeting of the School Consolidation Advisory Committee is scheduled for Monday, May 11.
April 13, 2026
No decisions were made at the Pasadena Unified School District School Consolidation Committee meeting on Monday, April 13. The meeting focused primarily on a review of potential consolidation scenarios developed by the district’s consultants. For each scenario, the consultants outlined potential academic benefits, financial impacts, implications for the district’s bond program, and key challenges. You can view all of this at https://www.pusd.us/about/superintendent/scac. Scroll down to Meeting Information/ Meeting Agendas & Resources.
The first scenario recommends merging Don Benito into Willard. With a capacity of approximately 760 students, Willard is considered large enough to absorb Don Benito’s enrollment. Students would benefit from the program alignment and increased resources. The second scenario proposes closing Webster and redistributing its students to Longfellow and Norma Coombs. With Webster’s enrollment currently around 256 students, and its close proximity to both campuses, consultants identified this as a potentially efficient consolidation that would also have academic benefits. The third scenario examines merging McKinley Middle School with Eliot Arts Magnet, noting that the two schools already share a campus and have arts-focused programming. To fully realize the benefits of consolidation, consultants also presented a related recommendation to close McKinley completely and reassign elementary school students to Hamilton, Madison, and Washington STEM Magnet.
Throughout the discussion, committee members asked questions, about topics ranging from transportation, program continuity, impact on special needs students, financial impact, and the capacity of receiving schools.
The committee is expected to review secondary school scenarios at its next meeting on Monday, April 27 at 5 pm.
March 31, 2026
At last night’s School Consolidation Committee meeting, the committee voted to take a different direction. After continuing their small group discussions, they came together as a group and asked for a change in the process. Committee members were not comfortable moving forward with a vote based on the limited information they had and requested additional data. As a result, the committee overwhelmingly voted to have the consultants present their own recommendations for potential consolidation scenarios, including potential impacts, at the next committee meeting. Once the committee has all the data and possible outcomes, they felt that they would have a big picture understanding of how school consolidation will transform PUSD, and therefore be able to make more informed decisions.
March 23, 2026
The outcome of the Superintendent’s School Consolidation meeting was that committee members said they wanted more time before they considered taking other schools off the consolidation list. The meeting began with an update on school capacity numbers and results of the PUSD Survey. There were 2,384 responses of which 70% were parents/caregivers. Participation was divided among schools with Marshall having the highest number of responses (412) followed by PHS (239) and San Rafael (224). Here are the survey results. PUSD’s Mike Dunning reviewed the Facilities 5 Year Bond Program Plan. There were a number of questions, and he explained that if the committee decided to recommend closure of a particular school, then that contract could be moved to another school. Then the committee reviewed PUSD’s special programs and were divided into small groups to discuss: Are there unique program assets that cannot be realistically moved from one location to another? Are there other program assets that can more easily be moved from one location to another? Are there areas of program duplication that could be offered in a more efficient way by a merger or consolidation? The conversation will continue next Tuesday, March 31 at 5 pm. Agenda and presentations
March 9, 2026
At the second meeting, the Superintendent’s School Consolidation Committee (SCAC) reviewed density maps of where students live, individual school plot maps of where each school’s students live, capacity and enrollment numbers, and estimates of the probable cost to update the school based on the Master Plan. Then they were divided into small groups and were asked to select schools that they would take off the list for possible consolidation given the criteria reviewed. They were asked to start with secondary schools. It was noted that other criteria may be added as the process continues, but for the first round, they were to use only the criteria presented. Each group presented their lists and then were asked to individually submit their list online. There was consensus that PHS, John Muir HS, Rose City, CIS, Octavia E. Butler MS, and Sierra Madre MS should be taken off the consolidation list. Though not every school completed their elementary school list, of those who did, there appeared to be consensus to take off Sierra Madre and Jackson. Once individual committee members voted, Madison was added to the list of schools that should not be considered for consolidation. View the presentation and maps. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 23, 2026, at 5 pm.
February 23, 2026
The Superintendent’s School Consolidation Committee (SCAC) had its first meeting on Monday, 2/23. Dr. Blanco welcomed and thanked the committee, and re-iterated that there is not a pre-determined outcome. The participants included parents, staff, community members and two high school students. We were glad that many of the staff are also parents so are coming in with multiple perspectives.
For those of you following the process, Dr. Pandolfo from Total School Solutions gave the same presentation about enrollment trends, and also included the Committee’s Objectives; the Board approved AB 1912 metrics, factors, and Resolution 2852; an explanation of why Districts consider closure and consolidation; and a review of current PUSD school locations and current school enrollment. You can view the presentation on the SCAC webpage.
Dr. Pandolfo explained that the SCAC will review data to determine if consolidation may benefit students and use the Board’s approved metrics and factors to make their decisions. The recommendations of each committee member will be submitted anonymously, and based on the majority vote, a recommendation not to consolidate or to consolidate one or more schools will be presented to the Board of Education for implementation in the 2027-28 school year. The next SCAC meeting is Monday, March 9. Meetings are open to the public, but there is no public comment.
February 1, 2026
The committee of 31 was selected from 167 applicants. Last Thursday, about 40 applicants to the SCAC who were not selected were invited to a listening session/focus group. PEN Executive Director Nancy Dufford and Board President Jennifer Allan Goldman participated. Total School Solutions and Dr. Blanco presented a high-level overview of the SCAC objectives, desired outcomes from the Board, and general data related to population and enrollment. Also included were details regarding AB 1912, the state law that defines the process for school districts considering the closure or consolidation of schools to guard against discrimination and ensure community input.
This presentation can be found on the SCAC webpage under Committee Resources. Dr. Blanco reminded everyone that all options remain on the table for consideration by the SCAC, including choosing not to consolidate any schools. We were split into small groups to discuss what we want the outcomes and considerations of the SCAC to be. Applicants who did not attend will have an opportunity to answer the questions. This input will be shared with the SCAC.
There was reassurance that meetings will be public, and that resources will be shared on the SCAC webpage. Parents will be able to provide their feedback through a future survey; at Board meetings in February, March, and April; and in town-halls, both in-person and virtual.