Open Letter To Charter School Communities

Pasadena Unified School District (Photo – ColoradoBlvd.net)

A letter from Dr. Elizabeth Blanco, Superintendent of Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), addresses the charter school communities impacted by the Eaton Fire.

• In the letter, PUSD emphasizes its commitment to supporting all students, including those in charter schools, by ensuring safe and prepared spaces for their education. PUSD has been in constant communication with charter schools to offer relocation options, with efforts such as moving district programs, cleaning facilities, and providing necessary supplies like N95 masks.
• The letter details specific relocation offers for three charter schools: Aveson School of Leaders, Odyssey Charter School – South, and Pasadena Rosebud Academy.
• PUSD has gone above and beyond to assist these schools, including providing food service, despite some charter schools not having signed necessary agreements.
• PUSD stresses the importance of collaboration and integrity to help students return to school and restore normalcy.

The letter in its entirety:

“Dear Charter School Communities of PUSD,

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) is steadfast in our commitment to all children in our community, including those attending charter schools. In the wake of the devastating Eaton Fire, our priority has been to ensure that every student has a safe, welcoming, and prepared space ready for them to resume their education as quickly as possible.

We care deeply for all students. That is why we have been in constant communication with charter school officials since just days after the fire began to keep them informed as soon as we gained access to sites in the mandatory evacuation zones.

As we drive around our community, the marks of the fire are everywhere: homes and structures lost, and the mountains denuded of shrubs and trees.

We acted swiftly to offer spaces to charter schools within PUSD boundaries that will allow students to return to a sense of normalcy as soon as possible. Each site has been subjected to rigorous cleaning, sanitizing, and environmental testing before being cleared for reopening.

We have moved district programs and offices to other sites, installed furniture, and offered to provide N95 masks for children in charter schools so that students can be back in classrooms as early as this week, in alignment with the return timeline for PUSD students.

PUSD will follow its air quality procedures whenever there is a concern because of nearby burned areas: students will be kept indoors, with special attention to be provided to students and staff with asthma or breathing issues.

To charter school students impacted by the Eaton Fire disaster: we have your back.

Since just days after the fire, we’ve been in constant communication with charter school leaders to find solutions.

On Monday, January 17, we met with charter school officials to discuss the spaces offered to relocate charter schools destroyed or damaged by the fire. During the meeting, some shared that they were pursuing commercial spaces but requested that we not disclose this to their communities yet. Out of respect, we agreed. Unfortunately, two of the invited charter operators did not attend the meeting.

Here is where we stand:

• Aveson School of Leaders TK-5 (formerly at the Noyes Elementary School campus):
  We offered Aveson School of Leaders relocation to Cleveland Elementary School, which keeps them within PUSD and co-locates them with another charter school. We have moved preschool programs and PUSD Early Childhood Education offices out of Cleveland and to other PUSD sites to accommodate Aveson. While charter school leaders have expressed interest in PUSD’s Wilson Middle School site, that campus is not available because it houses five critical PUSD programs, including Rose City High School, a children’s center, the Center for Independent Studies (which is expected to grow following the fire), Twilight Adult Education, and a special education hub and program for adult students. Aveson Charter also has a small sports academy at Wilson Middle School. Providing Aveson with the additional space it seeks at Wilson would require the displacement of existing PUSD programs, far more than the PUSD programs already displaced at Cleveland.

• Odyssey Charter School – South TK-8 (formerly at the Edison Elementary School campus):
  Our relocation plan would bring Odyssey Charter School and Odyssey Charter School – South together on a single site at Audubon Elementary School – a consolidation their executive director had pursued before the fire. At the time of our offer of relocated space, Odyssey asked us to keep those plans private until they could communicate with their community, and we respected that request. PUSD is cleaning and sanitizing the Audubon campus in the same way as its own campuses. Like PUSD campuses, the Audubon campus must pass environmental tests before being cleared for reopening. Air quality will be monitored, and air quality procedures will be put into effect whenever there is a concern about nearby burned areas. Students will be kept indoors, and special attention will be given to students and staff with asthma or breathing issues.

• Pasadena Rosebud Academy TK-8 (formerly at the Loma Alta Elementary School campus):
  PUSD has offered to share the campus of Don Benito Elementary School, consolidating its own classrooms and programs on that site to create dedicated space for Pasadena Rosebud Academy. Concerns have been raised about co-locating with PUSD students at Don Benito, which is located near some burned homes. The Don Benito campus is being cleaned and sanitized and must pass environmental tests before reopening this week. To address any concerns about air quality because of burned homes in the area, air quality will be monitored, and the school will put into effect its air quality procedures whenever there is a concern: students will be kept indoors, and special attention will be given to students and staff with asthma or breathing issues.

We have gone above and beyond to support charter school students in this time of need, including offering food service even though most charter school operators have not signed facilities use agreements or paid the pro rata share rates adopted by PUSD’s Board of Education. Despite this, we have and will continue to treat charter school students with the same care and urgency as our own PUSD students, ensuring safe spaces and resources to return to school quickly and begin healing.

Before the devastating fire and destruction of these buildings, PUSD spent a considerable amount of Measure O and routine maintenance funds and developer fees to upgrade Loma Alta, Edison, and Audubon to enhance the educational experience for children in charter schools. These projects included roofing, HVAC, playground, and portable restrooms.

This is not the time for division or misrepresentation. It is a time for collaboration, integrity, and leadership. Together, we must work toward a shared goal: getting every student back in school as quickly as possible to restore a sense of stability and normalcy in their lives.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Blanco, Ed.D. Superintendent”