Dear Neighbors,

The Pasadena Unified School District's Surplus Advisory "7-11" Committee presented its final report to the Board of Education last week. The report can be found by clicking here.

Following the release of their report and in response to public statements made about their recommendations, members of the "7-11" Committee prepared the following letter, which they've asked us to share with you.

The WPRA thanks the members of the committee for their work ensuring neighborhood concerns are represented as the District decides the future of San Rafael Elementary School  

We look forward to keeping you informed about this important topic.

On Thursday, June 26, the final report of the "7-11" Surplus Advisory Committee on San Rafael Elementary School was submitted to the PUSD Board of Education.  

The Committee, after hearing that residents were very supportive of keeping a public school on the premises if it could be done, reported that there were many questions that required answers before the Board declared the property surplus.  

The report details the process by which we, the undersigned, made our final recommendations to the Board regarding whether to declare the property surplus, conditions under which it might be declared surplus, and also regarding the limits of tolerance expressed by the community in a series of public hearings, regarding other uses.

The San Rafael Neighborhoods Association (SRNA) published an item in its most recent email newsletter that we believe is incorrect about not only the mandate of the Committee, but also our recommendations to the PUSD Board. We believe it is critical to point out, for the benefit of the community, the inaccurate statements in the newsletter.

The SRNA newsletter stated that we exceeded our scope of duty. In fact, District counsel assured us that, to the contrary, the final report in both process and substance met with our mandate to determine, first, whether the property should be declared surplus or not, and second, the limits of tolerance of the community for the use of the property should it be declared surplus.  

We discussed, considered, and otherwise addressed in detail both of these issues through meetings, public hearings, and in our final report. The SRNA newsletter item also:  

• Did not refer to the strong public support for doing whatever was necessary to keep a public school at the San Rafael site.
• Incorrectly stated our recommendations for further study by implying that the Committee supported extensive trenching around the site and, to illustrate that point, posted photographs of trenching not supported by any recommendation in the report.
• Misstated our recommendations for study of alternative layouts for the site's buildings.
• Implied that the Committee supported the building of a three-story structure on the site, which it did not.
• Stated that we, as a Committee, had no expertise or authority to discuss the issues from a technical or fiduciary standpoint. Such consideration was part of our mandate, and we were provided with technical and financial information for that express purpose.
• Implied that we recommended adding property on Nithsdale to the elementary school site via eminent domain. We rejected the use of eminent domain.

Most members of the Advisory Committee began their work with the belief that our task was simply to assess tolerable alternative uses for the property, accepting the decision of the Board that the school could not remain and should be declared surplus.

Review of the background material and input received at two public hearings challenged our assumptions and changed the course of the discussions. We concluded that many unanswered questions needed to be addressed before the property should be declared surplus. However, we also fully addressed the community's tolerable uses for the property in the event the Board does declare it surplus, which it still has the authority to do. 

Given the importance of this decision for the future of PUSD and west Pasadena, we urge you to read the final report and recommendations for yourself.

Please continue to make your voice heard as the PUSD Board of Education considers the report and any future action with regard to San Rafael Elementary School and the property on which it is located.

Signed:

Don Watson, former Chair

Kenyon Harbison, former Vice-Chair

Karla Cordova

Darrell Cozen

Carla Riggs

Dorena Rodriguez

Asma Saraj

Catherine Stringer

Michael Trujillo

Rodolfo Ramirez

John Van de Kamp