Sunday, September 13, 2026

Pasadena Unified Sets a September 22 Open House on Its 110-Unit Roosevelt Workforce Housing Project

[Rendering courtesy Pasadena Unified]

The district’s project page says construction could start as soon as late 2026 with homes ready as early as late 2028; the board’s Sept. 10 actions followed a $24.5 million round of cuts

Pasadena Unified will hold an open house Sept. 22 on the 110-unit employee housing planned for the Roosevelt campus, the district said Friday, days after its board certified 2025-26 finances and sought a classroom-spending waiver. 

The drop-in session runs 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, in the Arroyo Room at Brookside Golf Club, 1133 Rosemont Ave., with project team members answering questions and no formal presentation, according to the district’s Sept. 11 update. The district’s project page says construction could begin as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026, take about 24 months and deliver homes as early as the fourth quarter of 2028. 

The project on the roughly five-acre former Roosevelt Elementary site at 315 N. Pasadena Ave. would provide approximately 110 rental units for teachers and staff in a mix of apartments and townhomes, all at below-market rents, with half reserved as affordable housing for income-qualifying employees, the project page says. About 30% would be one-bedroom units, 40% two-bedroom and 30% three- and four-bedroom. The district is using state housing streamlining laws while the city’s review continues.

“This is the PUSD’s first housing endeavor, and the Board believes that this is a necessity to recruit and retain quality employees and thereby improve the quality of education for PUSD students,” the project page says. 

The district issued a design-build solicitation in mid-May with a June deadline, estimating construction at $82 million to $85 million for 80 apartments and 30 townhomes in a Spanish Revival design, according to the solicitation, to be paid for with the Measure O and Measure R bonds. The City Council voted unanimously in June to deny landmark status for the old school building, and the project was set for a preliminary consultation before the city’s Design Commission in August on waivers for setbacks, height, open space and parking; the project must still return for consolidated design review and building permits.

Blanco said at a July 2025 open house that more than 120 district employees had lost their homes in the Eaton Fire.

The district’s first open house on the project, held in July 2025 in the same Arroyo Room, drew nearly 100 people.

The Sept. 22 session follows a Sept. 10 special meeting at which the Board of Education approved the district’s 2025-26 Unaudited Actuals Report and certified the figures for filing with the Los Angeles County Office of Education. The district said Friday that it begins the year in a stronger fiscal position after $30 million in reductions and savings, with deficit spending significantly reduced and the required 3% reserves maintained for the next three years, and that fire insurance proceeds are one-time funds dedicated to Eaton Fire recovery. 

The unaudited figures show general fund revenues of $315 million and expenditures of $342.2 million, with $164.7 million in insurance revenue recorded separately and the fund balance rising from $148 million to $284 million. Expenditures came in $52.1 million below the district’s estimates; excluding fire-related revenue and spending, the unrestricted general fund ended the year at $37.7 million, down $3.6 million. 

The board also approved a request for a waiver from a state classroom-compensation requirement, an exemption the district said is based on total expenditures that ran higher because of fire recovery, since the state formula has no mechanism to exclude those costs. State law requires unified districts to spend at least 55% of their current expense of education on classroom teacher and aide salaries; the district’s unaudited 2025-26 figure was 50.52%, a shortfall of $11.4 million on a current expense of $254.5 million, according to the board report. The district paid $15.9 million in fire-related expenditures and $3 million from one-time state funds during the year; without those costs, the figure would have been 54.57%. The application cites serious hardship, with Board President Tina Fredericks as the authorized official.

The board approved a Fiscal Stabilization Plan on Nov. 20, 2025, with more than $24.5 million in cuts aimed at heading off a potential county takeover; with grants and revenue generation, the plan reduces the 2026-27 budget by $30.5 million.

At the Sept. 10 meeting the board also set revised Gann appropriation limits, designated representatives to seek federal and state disaster assistance, and approved an agreement with the city for use of the Allendale Park baseball field. In closed session it took no reportable action on two pending cases, including the district’s own suit against the City of Pasadena, Case No. 26STCP02735.

The board’s next regular meeting is Thursday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, at 351 S. Hudson Ave. 

Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco opened Friday’s update by marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, writing that students were reflecting on the day through learning activities. “In difficult times, the strength of our community is the Power of Us, helping us care for others, face challenges, and move forward together with understanding and hope,” she wrote. 

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Arroyo Room, Brookside Golf Club, 1133 Rosemont Ave., Pasadena.