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Sunday, October 10, 2010

The choices of which schools to recommend were hard, Roberts said, but also made some sense.  Loma Alta is at “the far corner of everything,” and there is not much room for expansion.  Roberts also said that a low percentage of children in the area actually go to Loma Alta as a neighborhood school.

However, the school building is on “prime real estate” for community-based programs, Roberts said, and some of the programs for special needs children at Hodges Children’s Center in Pasadena could easily be relocated to the Loma Alta building.

Closing Jackson Elementary “was a really difficult decision,” Roberts said, which split the panel — 11 of 21 panel members agreed to closing it.  However, “Jackson is one of the lowest performing schools in the district,” Roberts said, “and has been battling that for five or six years … how long does it take to turn the school around?”  The idea of moving the Norma Coombs program to Jackson was considered, Roberts said, but it would be hard to expand the campus if necessary and there is insufficient parking for staff.

Roberts said that the committee will meet on Wednesday and Saturday to formalize a report to PUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz, and he will probably make his recommendation to the school board in early November.

 

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