Huge budgets cuts, enrollment drops: Pasadena schools struggle to rebuild after Eaton fire
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
When Altadena’s Eliot Arts Magnet Academy burned in the Eaton fire, its theater program’s substantial collection of largely handmade costumes was destroyed.Last week, however, the middle school took a small but meaningful step toward recovery.The Pasadena Educational Foundation awarded drama teacher Mollie Lief and a colleague a $2,000 grant to fund the purchase of costumes for the school’s upcoming musical production.
“Every single dollar that goes to the Eliot Arts drama and dance programs just means that we can keep doing what we do for the kids,” Lief said.And yet, she said, “Under the surface there is so much pain, and there’s trauma.” Eliot was among five public or charter schools that burned down or were badly damaged nearly a year ago.
Three charter campuses were housed on Pasadena Unified property.One campus, which housed a previously closed school, also burned.
In all, dozens of campuses were forced into extended closures after the fire began Jan.7.
Although the schooling has long since continued, the healing has been fraught.For students, teachers and administrators, the issues have ranged from the logistical to the emotional.About 1,100 students lost homes.
Pasadena Unified enrollment plunged by about 500 students this academic year as families relocated.Exacerbating the toll, the district has been grappling in recent years with financial turmoil — and 2025 forced a painful reckoning amid the fire recovery.
After years of declining enrollment and the exhaustion of pandemic-era federal funds, Pasadena Unified had run up a $37-million budget deficit even before the fire.Following the February approval of a plan to slash $12 million from the district’s 2025-26 school year, the school board voted in late November to cut another $24.5 million from next year’s budget through layoffs and other austerity measures.
The district has shuttered five sc...