A screebgrab from PUSD State of Schools Live Broadcast on May 17, 2022 (Photo – KLRN Pasadena)
Dr. Elizabeth Pomeroy gave the 2022 State of the Schools speech last night at McKinley School in Pasadena.
By News Desk
Hosted by McKinley Principal Dr. Merian Stewart, the event opened with the McKinley Choir and the Bucket Drummers. Stewart said that 26 languages are spoken at McKinley.
The event was opened by Blair JROTC presenting colors. ASB McKinley President Franco Rodriguez spoke, and Pasadena High School Senior Miguel Roybal-Monzo described his experience in the PUSD. He started in the dual language immersion program in kindergarten, came through the college and Career Academy and is now in the Student Think Tank. He interned in the office of State Senator Portantino, and will attend UC Berkeley as a sociology and political science major.
He said “PUSD is a unique district where the proportion of students in private schools towers over the national average. In Pasadena only 52% of its students attend public school, compared to the national average of 92%. This is of course due to the prevalence and dominance of private education in this community.”
The PUSD Ethnic Studies course has just been approved as an A-G requirement for the UC system.
Superintendent Brian McDonald acknowledged “our supportive community of faculty, staff and parents of the PUSD for all that you do for our students.”
Keynote speech
The keynote speech by Board President Elizabeth Pomeroy was in two parts; academics and finance.
The PUSD magnet schools are thriving, and of significant note John Muir High School Early College Magnet. Kennedy Hackett, will graduate this year with two diplomas; an Associate of Arts degree from Pasadena City College and a PUSD diploma. Hackett is the first student to achieve this success and she will be attending Harvard in the fall.
Pomeroy described several new programs and progress:
- Senior Defense and Reflection is now a PUSD graduation requirement.
- Dual language programs have expanded now from 2 languages to 4: French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Armenian.
- There is a new committee, created by the Superintendent, to stabilize and grow enrollment.
- Town Hall meetings will be conducted on every campus starting in the Fall.
The PUSD financial state is “good for the immediate future.” “The district’s combined general fund revenues come from three sources; the state, federal and local sources.”
> Watch the entire PUSD State of Schools Live Broadcast on May 17, 2022, below:
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