Wednesday, May 13, 2026

PUSD Advisory Committee Stops Short of Recommending School Consolidations

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

The Pasadena Unified School District’s (PUSD) School Consolidation Advisory Committee concluded its work this week without recommending that schools be consolidated at this time, leaving the final decision to the Board of Education as the district continues studying declining enrollment and long-term financial pressures.

According to a district update released Tuesday, the committee held its final meeting May 11 and provided comments and input for consideration by the board following months of discussions surrounding possible campus consolidations and closures.

“The committee’s feedback is that there is no recommendation to consolidate schools at this time,” the district said in the update. “No consolidation or closure decisions have been made by the Board of Education.”

The issue has drawn significant public attention in recent months as district officials grapple with declining student enrollment, rising operational costs and concerns about maintaining academic programs across under-enrolled campuses.

District officials said a draft Equity Impact Analysis report will be presented during the Board of Education’s regular meeting on May 28.

The consolidation review process will continue through June with additional public study sessions and hearings intended to gather more community feedback before any formal action is considered, according to the district. A board vote on possible school consolidations is currently scheduled for June 28.

The advisory committee was formed to evaluate potential impacts of school consolidations and provide community-based feedback to the board. Concerns raised throughout the process have included neighborhood identity, transportation impacts, equity issues and the effect closures could have on students and families.

The district has not identified which schools, if any, could ultimately face consolidation or closure.

Last month, parents at a town hall criticized the district’s school-closure process, arguing that flawed data, a rushed timeline and the absence of the full Board of Education had eroded public trust.

During nearly an hour of public comment at Pasadena High School, speakers challenged the credibility of the committee, outside consultant Total School Solutions and the board.

Teams described the survey that launched the consolidation process as “biased and irresponsibly written” and said committee members were given faulty information and only minutes to review it before voting. He also alleged that one board member continued attending committee meetings despite repeated requests not to.

Parents additionally criticized the district’s timeline and financial assumptions. Nixa pointed to the board’s recent approval of $128 million to rebuild San Rafael Elementary, saying the project “skipped the queue” and exposed inequities in the process. Other speakers argued that projected savings of roughly $500,000 to $700,000 per elementary school would do little to close the district’s estimated $30 million budget gap.