PUSD Board considers using proposed bond money on housing for staff, low-income students – Pasadena Star News

Pasadena Unified School District (YouTube)

Parts of the funds from a proposed $900 million bond could be used to construct rental housing units for teachers, staff, as well as low-income students, the Pasadena Unified School District’s Board of Education said this week.

The board agreed Thursday to carve out the language of the bond and a proposed parcel tax, which the panel is considering submitting to voters for approval in the upcoming Nov. 5 election.

Proponents said the two measures will help the cash-strapped district, which recently announced the layoff of 200 staffers, in providing quality education, improving school facilities, and ensuring sustainability without relying on federal money.

The parcel tax will raise $5 million annually for the district by levying taxpayers $90 per parcel tax for eight years. People over age 65 and certain homeowners receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance could be exempted from the tax. This tax rate would need 66.67% of voter approval to pass.

This money will be used to “expand programs for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM); enhance career training and college readiness courses; provide competitive wages for teachers and staff; hire counselors and mental health professionals; and expand counseling services be adopted,” according to a draft proposal.

The proposed General Obligation Bond, on the other hand, will enable the district to collect $900 million of bonds through levying people an average tax of $59 per $100,000 of assessed valuation with an estimated time period of more than 25 years.

This bond needs 55% of voter approval to pass. Proceeds from the bond can only be used for school facilities.

While the board is not expected to finalize the measures and adopt them until May 23, Thursday’s discussion largely focused on how the district should spend the money, if voters endorse the bond and parcel tax.

Among the many proposals is a plan to use a portion of the money for affordable housing, which some board members argued is the key to combating staff turnover and declining enrollment, both factors that have contributed to school closures.

During its March 28 meeting, the board approved using the proposed bond to fund a housing project for educators and staff on the empty campus of Roosevelt elementary school. In 2019, the board had voted to close Roosevelt along with two other elementary schools as a cost-saving measure.

Staff estimated that the initial phase of this project would cost between $550,000 and $2,068,000 in funding. The district had hoped to fund the project with money from Measure O—a $516 million general obligation bond measure approved by voters in 2020, which levied a property tax of $45 per $100,000 in assessed value

But that money is still not enough.

“The reason the language is in this bond now is because it’s going to continue the work that we’re beginning with Measure O on the Roosevelt property,” said Board member Michelle Richardson Bailey, who asked housing for low-income students to be included in the bond language. “We just don’t have enough funding to complete the Roosevelt property without the additional bond.”

While the board largely supported the staff housing project, they had some disagreement about whether to include low-income families in the plan.

Board President Kimberly Kenne expressed concern that adding low-income housing for families would cause taxpayers to question the purpose of the bond.

“I don’t think they think they should pay school bond taxes for affordable housing,” she said.

“But that’s where you have to tell the district’s narrative,” Bailey told her. “You don’t leave that to folks who don’t understand what that brings to the district.”

Board Vice President Jennifer Hall Lee agreed with Bailey on including affordable housing for low-income students.

“What the student housing helps with is our enrollment and stabilization,” she said. “And stabilization of enrollment is a phrase that comes up all the time with PUSD, they want us to stabilize the enrollment.”

In 2022, the state Department of Education reported that enrollment in California public schools has dropped to its lowest point in more than 20 years, an issue that has been blamed on the pandemic and rising house prices.

The declining student enrollment leads to loss of revenue for school districts. In California, schools receive funds based on student attendance, so when families move out of PUSD to more affordable communities, the district loses local Average Daily Attendance funds, or ADA.

When the district announced its decision to eliminate 90 full-time equivalent certified and 93 classified employees in March, they blamed the reason for the cut on the loss of one-time COVID funding, declining enrollment and a $38 billion state budget shortfall.

More details of the housing project for educators and staff will be discussed during a special joint-meeting of PUSD and Pasadena City Council on Monday, April 29.

During the meeting, officials will also go over AB 2295 and SB 35.

Assembly Bill 2295 allows a school district or a county office of education to create affordable housing for its staff with unused properties. State Senate Bill 35, on the other hand, streamlines the construction of affordable housing.

The meeting will begin at 6 pm at the Pasadena City Hall Council Chamber.

Also on Monday, the City Council/Financial Committee will hold a special joint meeting, which starts at 2 pm at the Council Chamber, to discuss the city manager’s recommended FY 2025-2029 Capital Improvement Program budget.

The budget discussion will include the CIP presentations from the following departments: Public Works, Transportation, Water and Power, Information Technology, as well as Pasadena Center Operating Company Improvements and Rose Bowl Operating Company Improvements.