Centering Students and Neighborhoods

A new facilities master plan has been completed for the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), charting a path forward for public schools across Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre.

The facilities master plan makes recommendations for school building improvements and investments. Facilities master plans set out a plan for repairs so that students across PUSD can learn in state-of-the-art facilities. These plans study class sizes and classroom space, building conditions, availability of specialized spaces like auditoriums or athletics, academics and other student programs, and costs of repairs and potential additions at each building in the district.  

In the past, traditional facilities master plans have focused on physical conditions of the building. This plan will be different: it centers students and neighborhoods in addition to facilities. While schools are traditionally thought of as centers of learning, they can also serve as centers of community gathering, neighborhood landmarks, events and programs spaces, and more. This plan recognizes schools as community resources, with improvements as ways to better support both students and neighborhoods.

Three Lenses

To understand PUSD today and inform future decisions, we are looking at data about students, neighborhoods, and facilities.

By looking at data about students and neighborhoods in addition to facilities, we can center those most in need of support. These three lenses can help create a more equitable and innovative facilities master plan, aligning with the  district’s values  and commitment to putting students first.

Across the country, education systems have historically underserved students from several social and economic groups. These groups have historically received less educational support, leading to gaps in educational outcomes, and have faced systemic racism and additional barriers to accessing quality education. By identifying systemic issues and supporting students experiencing the greatest gaps, we can create a more informed plan that seeks to improve learning outcomes and opportunities for every student.

Since many PUSD students are part of historically underserved communities, we identified schools that serve the highest proportions of underserved students. Schools were identified if they serve the top 20% of one underserved student group or the top 40% of at least two groups.

13 schools, located in Altadena and Pasadena, have the highest enrollment of underserved student groups.

Schools serve as community resources, social support systems, and centers of neighborhood culture. Investment in school facilities directly  impacts surrounding neighborhoods  socially, economically, and beyond. Schools in lower resource communities may provide services, or have an opportunity to provide services, in order to fill gaps in resources.

Where students live can also impact their access to economic, environmental, and educational opportunity, and affect their experience in the classroom.

The  Opportunity Index  measures a neighborhood’s level of economic, environmental, and educational resources and identifies neighborhoods with low resources or high segregation and poverty.

The Index uses census tracts – areas home to 1,200 to 8,000 residents created by the US Census Bureau – to represent neighborhoods.

PUSD allows students to enroll in schools across the district, instead of being restricted to the nearest school.

While all PUSD students can enroll at schools outside their neighborhood through open enrollment, factors like access to transportation and after school care may pose barriers to students from lower resource neighborhoods. Students should be able to access the academic programs and services that match their needs and interests at the school closest to where they live.

As part of the master planning process, school building conditions are evaluated to make recommendations for improved learning environments.  

Why does this matter?

Improving school facilities ensures better outcomes for all students, especially those from historically underserved groups.

Major education, land use, and other policy decisions in the last century have changed the ways students attended school and continue to influence systems in place today.

Following Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, school districts across the country were ordered to integrate their schools, overturning laws that enforced school segregation. PUSD adopted its first integration (or desegregation) plan in the summer of 1970. Since 1970, schools have closed, most of which were in formerly redlined areas.

Former PUSD students impacted by the 1970 plan may be the caregivers, family members, or neighbors of today's generation of students. Today's facilities master plan provides an opportunity to acknowledge and address the effects of past policies and investments. By understanding historical context, we can disrupt the systems that have harmed communities of color and enforced segregation and biased investment in the past.

With a more holistic understanding, we can create stronger recommendations for facilities and learning environments that support the students, families, caregivers, teachers, and neighbors in the school community.

For more information on the facilities master plan, please visit  PUSD’s website  or explore more data on schools on the  plan’s website .