Thursday, March 12, 2026

Pasadena Unified Committee Removes Nine Schools From Closure Consideration, Leaving 14 Under Review

First polling round narrows the list as financially strapped District weighs consolidation options

A Pasadena Unified School District advisory committee has removed nine schools from the list of campuses being considered for potential closure or consolidation, the first concrete narrowing in a process that could reshape the District’s footprint as it confronts a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

The Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee conducted its first in a series of polls on March 9 to identify schools to remove from the list of sites under consideration, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco announced in an email to the school community on March 11.

The schools removed span all levels. John Muir High School and Pasadena High School are off the list, as are Octavia E Butler Magnet and Sierra Madre Middle School. Three elementary campuses were removed: Mary W. Jackson Steam, Madison Elementary, and Sierra Madre Elementary. Two alternative schools, CIS Academy and Rose City High School, were also taken off the list.

The 14 schools that remain under review include two secondary campuses — Blair School and Thurgood Marshall Secondary School — along with Eliot Arts Magnet middle school and McKinley School, a K-8 campus.

Ten elementary schools remain: Altadena Arts Magnet Elementary, Don Benito Fundamental School, Field Elementary School, Hamilton Elementary School, Longfellow Magnet Elementary, Norma Coombs Elementary School, San Rafael Elementary School, Washington Elementary STEM Magnet School, Webster Elementary School (Daniel Webster), and Willard Elementary School.

Altadena Arts Magnet Elementary is the only Altadena school remaining on the list — a point of particular significance in a community still recovering from the Eaton Fire, which destroyed or severely damaged five Pasadena Unified School District campuses in Altadena in January 2025.

Blanco stressed that no school is slated to be closed or consolidated at this point and that the committee may not recommend any schools for closure.

“The Committee will continue its work through several additional rounds and, over time, will likely significantly narrow the number of school(s) to be considered for closure or consolidation,” Blanco wrote in the March 11 email. “It is important to note that no school is slated to be closed or consolidated at this point in time, and that it is possible that the Committee may not recommend any schools for closure.”

The committee will present its recommendations to the Board of Education by May. The Board is scheduled to vote on any closures June 25, with changes taking effect in the 2027-28 school year.

The consolidation process began in December, when the Board of Education passed Resolution 2852 establishing minimum enrollment thresholds for schools to be considered sustainable. The Board subsequently approved Resolution 2857 in January 2026, establishing nine equity metrics for the committee’s analysis as required by state law AB 1912. The committee is working with Total School Solutions, an outside consultant hired under a contract not to exceed $233,300.

Pasadena Unified School District faces a projected budget shortfall of $30 million to $35 million for the 2026-27 school year, according to District projections, driven by years of declining enrollment, rising costs, the expiration of one-time pandemic relief funds, and expenses related to the Eaton Fire. The District’s student population has dropped approximately 23 percent over the past decade, from about 17,267 students in 2014-15 to 13,228 in the current school year.