Board Of Education, Pasadena Unified School District

Mercy Santoro, Associate Superintendent School Support Services

October 8, 2015

“Together we can transform the

Pasadena Unified School District into the first choice for

schools in our community.”

• Superintendent McDonald and his team are looking to put together an inclusive master-plan process that will help PUSD chart a clear course for years to come. In partnership with the Superintendent’s Cabinet, I present this strategy for academic excellence, leadership, community connections, and facility improvements with a focus today on community engagement to guide this effort.

Going Forward

• 2015-16 PUSD Strategic Directives• PUSD 21st Century Learner Profile• 2015 Davis Demographic Student Population Forecast• 2014 Search Institute 40 Developmental Asset Survey• 2014-15 California School Parent Survey and School

Climate Survey• Pasadena Educational Network Transition to Middle

School Survey

Going ForwardSample of existing data and information being used to inform this process includes:

PUSD currently serves 57.8 percent of the school-age students residing within district boundaries. (August 2015 Davis Demographic Report for School Year 2014-15 attendance). We are studying birth rates and noting changes, migration patterns of students out of the district at transition grades, transfer patterns within the district and we are beginning to map out spatially the educational opportunities available to families in the Pasadena area. The more we know about the educational landscape, values, core beliefs and programs/services families are using to inform school choice, the better positioned PUSD is to retaining students and attracting prospective students. Likewise, this information is needed to ensure PUSD offers the services and programs families in the communities we serve want.

The Reality

Just think about the students we could retain, notto mention those outside our borders who might be attracted to attend PUSD schools. In fact, the data indicates that there are 12,326 students within PUSD boundaries we might still potentially enroll. Such students and families are worthy of our attention. For example, while many school districts in the SGV continue to see declining enrollment, PUSD is beginning to stabilize. Some of the reasoning for this shift is thought to be because of the popularity of the District’s Dual Immersion Language Programs that feed into the International Baccalaureate program. The Master Plan survey will help the District create clear feeder path for smooth transitions from school to school through a student’s K-12 attendance in PUSD.

The Potential

If we improve learning environments at all levels, we have the potential to “recapture” several students and enrich opportunities for all allowing for a diverse array of educational opportunities, programs and student support services to thrive.

Everything from our schools’ curriculum, to school culture, to facilities, has the potential to make a significant difference to the families we hope to serve.

That is exactly why we need to embark on a robust master plan.

The Potential

It is vital that PUSD invest in state-of-the-art planning – not only to build capacity in our educational systems, but also to ensure that innovative and successful programs are well supported by capital expenditures.

The Purpose

PUSD will soon issue the remaining $100M in bond funds to complete the work promised in Measure TT.

Spending less than one percent of that amount on a comprehensive planning process will pay the District great dividends – not only as it relates to the wise expenditure of the remainder of Measure TT, but also in building community good will as the District prepares for a potential 2020 bond.

A comprehensive communications, marketing and branding plan, combined with a participatory and transparent educational and facilities planning process, will help us lay the foundation for sound educational planning for years to come. These efforts, along with a new website platform to communicate in a more timely and effective manner with to our diverse student population and families, will roll out concurrently in 2015-16 school year, paving the way for planning and implementation of new programs and services for years to come.

The Plan

Utilizing a robust community engagement and survey process, we plan to track educational trends, examine local realities, consider community partnerships, and catalogue perceived needs of divergent families within our service area. This will be our first comprehensive effort at obtaining a statistically significant sample of information from 3 target survey groups:• Children attending area Preschools• Students Enrolled in PUSD• Students Enrolled in Other Schools (Private, Charter, Inter-District Transfer)

Asking a variety of questions, we will concurrently share the ways in which PUSD can attract students of all capabilities to a stellar portfolio of schools. Using existing data and conducting focus groups with a target population we will develop survey questions in partnership with an experienced research team.

Key to this plan will be community engagement. Gathering input from our constituents and capitalizing on local assets and insights, we hope to develop a cohesive sense of what our District would like to become and put together a plan to bring our strategic plan into reality. The Cities of Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Town of Altadena staff are represented on the Master Plan Survey Work Group to assist in community engagement and marketing the effort to their residents.

Our Survey Strategy

A combination of voter information of area residents with preschool and school-age children, PUSD’s current parents/guardians information, and a sampling of families who migrated out of the district over the last 4 years will be used to randomly select potential participants for an online and/or telephone survey. The survey will occur over a 2-week timeframe beginning January 5, 2016, will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete and will be offered in multiple languages. The survey methodology and questions will be vetted with the Master Plan Survey Work Group. We anticipate that a request to award a contract to the successful vendor selected via the District’s procurement process will come before the Board for approval at the November 12 meeting. The Master Plan Survey Work Group will focus its efforts on developing a marketing and communication strategy in October and November to roll out in late November thru December. Survey results are expected to be available sometime in February 2016. A communication plan to share the survey results will be developed.

Our Research Methodology

Rather than accept declining enrollment projections, we plan to put into place a robust community engagement and school improvement program via a robust educational master plan. Bridging the gap between educational practice and architecture – especially as it relates to student needs – we will work with key partners to think creatively about design solutions that foster synergy between program and building, community and school.

Going Forward