Monday, December 8, 2025

Guest Opinion: Jennifer Hall Lee | Retrospective: My Year as School Board President

This year as Board President of the Pasadena Unified School District has been one I will carry with me for a long time. I began the year with deep respect for our students, families, and staff. I end it with admiration for their resilience and determination. Serving in this role has afforded me a close view of what it means to lead in times of uncertainty and hope. Recovery continues, and we have built a foundation for healing and renewal.

The Goals

Prior to the fire, I did what incoming presidents do: I set goals for the board. The Eaton fire was devastating. Through this challenging year, I am proud of the work we have all done together.

The first is the adoption of new Board goals to ensure accountability and raise student achievement. These goals were set by the whole board and they are bold, visionary, centered on children, and grounded in data and community voice.

The Board also completed a first: the Governance Handbook. This is a significant document that outlines our roles for the public and clarifies the partnership role of the superintendent and the trustees.

We utilized a regular board facilitator to guide us through board meetings for focused learning. Professional development is important for a school board as a board’s main focus is student achievement. The work we have done will provide a framework that will support future boards.

And we completed a board self-evaluation from which we can monitor our growth as a board.

The Future

We have marked a shift in our thinking about our district as a whole: workforce housing and asset management. PUSD is again at the forefront.

At the most recent California School Board Association conference in Sacramento PUSD trustees joined our superintendent on two well-attended sessions about our workforce housing and asset management accomplishments.

In a time of unstable public education funding and rising costs, our assets are indispensable. We looked at our properties with an eye toward sustainability and benefit to our students. Our workforce housing development is advancing.

We have confronted difficult fiscal challenges with honesty. The decisions have not been easy, but we centered students in this process and committed to protecting their learning and growth.

I will continue serving on the Board of Education with gratitude and pride. Our work continues. I look ahead with a steady faith in our ability to continue building a strong future for the students of PASADENA UNFIED.

Jennifer Hall Lee represents District 2 on the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education.