Part 3 of an ongoing series
Sample slides from the “Consolidation-2027” plan (Photo – Graphics Dept.)
Newly released public records obtained through a Public Records Act request provide new details on Pasadena Unified School Board President Tina Fredericks’ plan titled “Consolidation 2027.”
By the Staff of Colorado Boulevard Newspaper
The records include slides from the plan developed by Fredericks and shared in Fall 2025 with selected PUSD Board members, as well as previously released communications with Total School Solutions (TSS), the consulting firm later hired to conduct PUSD’s consolidation study.
“Consolidation 2027” Slides Outline Major Closure Plan
The slides describe a districtwide restructuring plan that would reduce the number of schools and significantly reshape grade configurations across all levels. The plan describes itself as a “capacity-driven” approach that would require students to relocate to designated schools, although PUSD currently operates as an open-enrollment district which permits students to prioritize their school choice during an open enrollment period.
Fredericks’ plan is similar in many ways to the plans that TSS proposed on April 27, 2026 to the Superintendent’s Consolidation Committee. All the schools that TSS proposed to close are included in Fredericks’ closure plan. The Committee rejected the TSS closure proposals on May 11, 2026, with two-thirds of the Committee voting against school closures.
At the elementary level, the “Consolidation 2027” plan would reduce 13 schools to 10, including proposed closures of Don Benito Fundamental School, Norma Coombs Elementary, and Altadena Arts. Students from Don Benito would be relocated to Webster, Altadena Arts students to Washington, and Norma Coombs students to Willard. McKinley K–5 students would be split, with some students moving to Hamilton and some students to Madison.
At the middle school level, Fredericks’ plan would reduce six schools to three under a 6–8 grade configuration. Schools identified for closure include McKinley, Blair, and Eliot Arts. The proposal does not contemplate rebuilding Eliot Arts. Instead, Eliot and McKinley 6–8 students would be relocated to Octavia E. Butler. Blair’s 6–8 students would be relocated to the Thurgood Marshall campus.
At the high school level, the plan eliminates the established 6–12 option altogether and reduces four campuses to two. It would relocate all 9–12 students from Blair and Marshall to Pasadena High School. The plan acknowledges that PHS would not have capacity to accept all of these students. It notes that “portables can be added to PHS and/or Muir to increase capacity.”
Transportation and Metro Access Implications
Of the four PUSD schools with 9-12 students, Marshall and Blair are the only campuses within walking distance of a Metro Line stop. Closing Blair and relocating Marshall high school students to PHS would significantly reduce direct walking access to Metro Line stops for many PUSD high school students. PUSD does not offer busing.
Fredericks’ plan would split the Blair IB 6-12 program into an IB 9-12 program at PHS and a 6-8 IB program at Marshall.
The framework converts Marshall into a 6–8 campus with significantly reduced enrollment. As a 6-12 school, Marshall currently has the highest enrollment of any campus in PUSD, according to district data.
Altadena Campuses and Potential Implications
Under Fredericks’ plan, two long-established Altadena campuses—Eliot Arts and Altadena Arts—are included among the proposed closures, both located within Kim Kenne’s District 1.
If implemented, redevelopment of the Eliot Arts site could include demolition of the historically significant Eliot Tower as part of a broader redevelopment concept tied to the consolidation plan. Superintendent Dr. Blanco released a statement this past Friday, May 15, saying “PUSD will treat the tower as a historical resource,” and that she is committed to “listening and engaging with you thoughtfully in these conversations through the Altadena Town Council, our community partners, and the district’s facilities master planning process.”
The proposal outlined in the documents could result in Eliot not being rebuilt, with potential reuse options including revenue-generating uses of the property.
Fredericks’ plan outlines multiple potential reuse options for closed campuses, such as Eliot and Don Benito, including workforce housing development modeled after a prior PUSD investment at the Roosevelt site. That project is described as a five-acre development intended to address staffing shortages and generate PUSD revenue. One proposed alternative stands out: closed sites such as Eliot, Altadena Arts, Don Benito, McKinley, and Blair could be converted into solar farms.
Other proposed uses for former school sites include swing space, leases to public and private institutions, professional development facilities, a centralized children’s center, centralized kitchen and garden facilities, career technical education and adult education facilities, an athletic complex, a performing arts center, or eventual sale of property to reinvest in PUSD infrastructure.
Potential Staffing and Community Impact
If implemented as described, the “Consolidation 2027” plan would also affect staffing levels, including potential job losses among PUSD teachers, classified employees and Teamsters-represented personnel at affected campuses.
Fredericks identifies potential savings in “overhead expenses” associated with school closures. The materials appear to have been prepared before PUSD enacted major budget cuts last fall. Fredericks’ plan offers no estimates for revenues derived from closed campuses, nor any timeframe for realizing any revenue.
Research and Fiscal Context
After Fredericks developed her closure plan last fall, a May 2026 Stanford University brief titled “California Schools in Transition: Enrollment Decline, Climate Pressure, and System Capacity,” found that school closures in California do not typically generate expected fiscal improvement. Savings often are offset by enrollment loss, fixed costs transferred to remaining schools, increased transportation burdens, and community disruption.
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Thank you for reading and for asking about the byline. We normally attach individual bylines to our reporting, and we value giving credit to the journalists behind our work. In this case, however, we made an exception because the investigation is ongoing and involves sensitive circumstances and individuals. Publishing the piece under “By the Staff of Colorado Boulevard Newspaper” was an editorial decision made to protect the integrity of the reporting process and those involved.
This is not interesting to me and I am an Altadena Arts Magnet parent. The document is from Fall 2025. In the Fall 2025, the Superintendent was refusing to properly test and remediate our school. Given this, anyone willing to be a bold leader (which our district is in desperate need of) should have been entertaining closing our school at that time. Now the situation has evolved, and so the option was taken off the table.
They should have called it “Project 2027″… When you think couldn’t be worse, it still gets worse. I am amazed no one has resigned yet, there is no shame anymore.