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Dear Neighbors, Friends and PUSD Families,
As 2025 has drawn to a close, I reflect on what has been quite a year for our community and our schools. To sum it in a few words, it was a year of adjusting to a new sense of “normal” while the ground continually shifted under our feet.
The year began with unexpected tragedy, as wind-driven wildfires tore through our community and through our hearts, impacting our lives in every way. So many neighbors in our community have struggled to face the difficult and highly individualized path to recovery. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Eaton fires, the journey to find a new “normal” continues for so many of Altadena’s displaced children, their families and our dedicated staff. PUSD has worked hard to provide support along the way, in partnership with valued community and civic leaders.
We’ve also faced extreme disruption over threats to our most vulnerable families. The hard work we’ve had to do to safeguard our schools and protect against actions by our own federal government would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago, but it is another evolving “normal” to which we must continue to adapt.
PUSD tackled significant financial challenges in 2025. The board has faced incredibly tough and unpopular decisions to help ensure that the District retains “normal” independent control of its future, so that we can promise one for every student we serve.
Just as much as 2025 proved our collective resiliency and courage to adjust to that sense of “normal”, the year ahead provides opportunity for us to provide a brighter future for the students we serve. That means having the courage to redesign our operations toward a mission of increasing financial stability and resiliency so that we can provide every possible educational opportunity at the highest quality service level, now and in the years to come.
It's my hope through our shared advocacy of public education, we will rise above “normal” and we will move toward that brighter future, together. In the new year, your continued passion, your partnership and your fellowship will be invaluable tools as we engage in this work.
Happy New Year from my family, to you and yours.
Scott Harden
Pasadena Unified Board Trustee, District 4
Your Board at Work
Stay connected to the business and actions of the PUSD Board of Education.
Coming Up...
Events
Keeping you in the loop on goings-on around the District
PUSD District 4 Community Forum:
Public Education Funding 101
Meet your PUSD Board Trustee Scott Harden and engage in a discussion about how we fund public education. Learn about the ins and outs (and ups and downs) of how your tax dollars fund our public schools and how you can advocate for change. Refreshments and Spanish interpretation provided.
Topics
Here are some of the important issues the Board is discussing:
Fiscal Stablization
The Superintendent has led an effort to create a Financial Stabilization Plan to ensure that the District has the means to reverse the trend of a growing operating deficit.
Resources
These are some handy sources of information when engaging in productive conversations about issues the District faces.
Learning and Advocacy
Learn how California’s education system works, so you can make a difference.
PEN is an independent grass-roots nonprofit organization that promotes family participation in public education to benefit all students in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. PEN provides parent education programs and services to help parents explore, evaluate, and engage with their public schools as well as representing a collective voice for parents with the Pasadena Unified School District.
Data Resources
These sources allow you to start your advocacy journey, monitor school and District progress, and compare student success across schools and Districts.
The Dashboard is an online tool designed to help communities access important information about TK-12 schools and districts. The Dashboard features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success. Accountability plan metrics are linked to dashboard indicators at the district and school site level.
Additional reports are available on DataQuest, including more detailed information about school performance, test results, student enrollment, English learner, graduation and dropout, school staffing, course enrollment, and special education enrollment by program setting.
CAASSP reports test scores from the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (ELA and Math), CA Science Test, CA Alternate Assessments, and additional optional tools. These standardized tests provide necessary achievement data to
comply with federal laws.
The ELPAC is used to determine and monitor the progress of the English language proficiency for students whose primary language is not English. It assesses four domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. ELPAC scores are one of the criteria for English Learner reclassification.
Ed-Data is a partnership of the California Department of Education, EdSource, and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). It allows users to create graphs over time of education data, provides access to financial information, and allows for comparisons between districts.
Special Education Indicator Report
Indicators aligned with state and national targets publicly available in a weird word doc.
School Accountability Report Card (SARC)
Lots of the same stuff as the Dashboard, plus school-level details on curriculum, facilities, class sizes, staff like counselors, and some salary information.
California Healthy Kids Survey
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is an anonymous, confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency.