Friday, May 8, 2026

Guest Opinion | Matty Struski : Closing Blair Middle and High School Would Be a Blow to Students With Physical Disabilities

My daughter, Rain, is a sixth grader at Blair Middle School. Aside from being a thriving student and enthusiastic supporter of her school community, Rain also has a disability and uses a wheelchair as her primary source of mobility. Closing Blair and forcing her onto an alternative PUSD campus would be a significant step backward in accessibility and inclusion in her educational experience and in her life in general.

As parents of a child with a disability, my wife and I are forced to view schools through a different lens when choosing the right place for our daughter. Like other parents, we look for the school that will give our daughter the best chance to thrive academically and nurture a love for learning. But, equally important to us is the ability for our daughter to physically access the campus in an inclusive way.

When it came time to choose a middle school for Rain, my wife and I did a tremendous amount of research, and we toured several PUSD middle schools. Blair was the only PUSD middle school we toured where Rain could enter through the front door like everyone else. Blair is an inclusive campus. At Blair, Rain, and students like her, can access the entire campus the same way all the other students can.

Many buildings in PUSD have been standing since before the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990. They may have been upgraded and meet the legal requirements for accessibility over the years, but in our experience, most of them are not inclusive. What this means is that while all the other students are dropped off and able to enter through the front door, Rain would be forced to enter through a separate “accessible” entrance (usually a service entrance) in another part of the school.

At Blair, Rain enters the campus as an equal and valued member of the community. The campus is modern and wheelchair accessible and gives Rain the freedom to move from class to class independently. The middle school was built in 2011 and the High School was fully renovated in 2019, which means they had accessibility in mind when they designed it. And it shows. At older PUSD buildings, Rain would only be able to go to class the “accessible” way.

The Superintendent’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee (SCAC) is currently deciding whether to recommend to close Blair Middle School and move the students to either Marshall or Octavia Butler. Both schools are substantially older than Blair and would create a less inclusive environment for Rain and kids like her. And it would push an often overlooked segment of society further to the outside edges of the community.

I hope the PUSD Board sees fit to keep Blair open regardless of what the SCAC recommendations are.

Matty Struski is a resident of district 3 in Pasadena and a PUSD parent.