Monday, May 12, 2025

Pasadena, PUSD to Receive Update on Jefferson Campus Joint-Use

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

The City Council and Pasadena Unified School District will receive an update Monday on their longstanding joint-use partnership at the Jefferson Elementary School campus, where a growing number of educational, recreational, and emergency services now operate under a shared agreement.

In March 2024, despite the appeals of scores of Longfellow Elementary School parents who packed a School Board meeting, the School Board voted 4-3 to temporarily relocate Longfellow students to Allendale Elementary while their campus undergoes renovations.

The update will outline the impact of a 2021 memorandum of understanding that gave the City access to most of the Jefferson campus, excluding the Child Development Center. Officials say the site has since become a cornerstone for community services.

Following the Eaton Fire, four preschool and special education classes were relocated to the campus beginning Jan. 31. The City reaffirmed its commitment to Pasadena Unified School District by accommodating those students while continuing to offer programs through four City departments: Library, Police, Fire, and Parks and Recreation.

Library services at the Jefferson Branch Library have grown significantly, becoming the City’s youth services hub after the 2021 closure of Central Library. Highlights include weekly storytimes, teen STEAM kits, and large-scale events such as ArtNight Pasadena and the Pasadena Loves YA teen book festival.

Emergency response and education also play a central role. During the Eaton Fire, the Jefferson site hosted daily childcare for up to 200 children and delivered mental health programming in partnership with the Police and Fire Departments. Over 12 days, the campus supported 2,628 youth and 533 wellness session participants.

The Pasadena Fire Department’s training division now operates from Jefferson, using the space for firefighter instruction, equipment staging, and Pasadena City College courses in EMT and fire technology. The site includes conservation-minded training tools like a pump pod that saved 2.5 million gallons of water last year.

The Pasadena Police Activities League operates out of six classrooms, offering after-school education, sports, and arts programming for over 60 youth. Officials say the secure campus and access to Jefferson Park have enabled the Pasadena Police Activities League to expand far beyond what was possible at its former location.

The March 2024 vote undid an earlier Board vote in February that would have sent the Longfellow students to Jefferson Elementary. Parents decried the vote.

“It is too far away from our neighborhoods, presenting a challenging commute for the majority of us [this will be true for every Pasadena Unified School District school east of Los Robles that will also need to move temporarily for Measure O upgrades,” said Amanda Getty.

The distance from Longfellow Elementary School to Allendale Elementary is 3.5 miles. Jefferson Elementary is closer, 1.5 miles from Longfellow.

The February vote was invalidated because it had not been agendized or publicly noticed beforehand and was in violation of the Brown Act.