New Pasadena Unified board members could shake up school merger process

At least two newly elected Pasadena Unified School District board members will replace incumbents, and likely advocate for more time to consider school consolidations following the Nov. 3 election, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

In October, the board voted 4-3 to start a district “transformation” process, continuing nearly a year of contentious debate about whether to merge schools to grapple with declining enrollment, the Daily News reported. Though ballots are still being counted, the news outlet reported that half of the board that voted for the process will no longer be trustees.

One board member did not seek reelection, and Cynthia Torres, with 59% of the vote, is set to fill the seat, according to the Daily News. Torres has said there is not an urgent need to consider mergers. Instead, she said there should be a listening process in the community.

Challenger Felita Kealing was leading longtime incumbent Kimberly Kenne by 19 percentage points. According to the Daily News, Kealing said a merger discussion must combine quantitative data with qualitative community experiences.

The current school board has one more meeting before new trustees are sworn in next month.

This story was originally published by EdSource.