Students left the San Marino Unified School District at an accelerated rate following the 2018-19 school year, according to a report delivered at Tuesday night’s school board meeting by Jason Kurtenbach, the SMUSD’s executive director of curriculum and instruction. Exit data showed that 236 students left the district at that time, a marked increase of the previous year, when 173 went elsewhere.
Kurtenbach showed graphs indicating that 176 students left the district following the 2014-15 school year, followed by 168 in 2015-16, 152 in 2016-17, 173 in 2017-18 and the 236 who opted for other venues in 2018-19.
The San Marino Unified School District currently has 2,940 students enrolled in its programs.
“Since 1996, we have hovered anywhere near the 2,940 we have today to around 3,100,” said Kurtenbach in a conversation on Wednesday morning. He said the highest enrollment was in 2004, when 3,301 students passed through the district’s doors each day.
Kurtenbach said that the SMUSD has begun surveying families as to the reason for their departures and that 80 families completed the query last year based on requests for transcripts. Of the 80, 24 returned to the SMUSD and 56 “transferred out,” according to Kurtenbach.
Of the reasons given for the decision to look elsewhere, Kurtenbach said that 17 cited “class size,” 10 mentioned “environment” while others chose “challenges.” Kurtenbach explained that this option could mean “it’s either too challenging or I want to be challenged more.”
School Board President Joseph Chang surmised that EB-5 visa restrictions have resulted in students leaving the SMUSD and said he knows of several families who have relocated to Canada.
Kurtenbach also provided enrollment data for private schools in the area, which showed marked increases on a graph that included Westridge, Loyola, Pasadena Polytechnic, La Salle, Mayfield and Maranatha.
Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson then provided an update on the district’s facilities, including scenarios that will be in effect if the $200 million bond is either approved or rejected by voters at the March 3 election.
“The voters will tell us what we will do from that point on,” Wilson said. “My mission is about helping our teachers and principals, and our staff, our aides, our nurses, everybody that does that hard work of educating our kids, to give them the best possible opportunity to be successful.”
Wilson reported that student safety is “right at the top” of his objectives and said the district has “significant” deferred maintenance needs that can be addressed with monies from the general fund, a bond or a special endowment, that was suggested last year by a member of the Facilities Advisory Committee.
Wilson also said that if the bond passes, he considers a new performing arts center, a new pool at San Marino High School and new district offices “the lowest priority items.”
He also said the the district has sufficient facilities assessments, but needs a Master Plan.
Things became tense during the communications section of the meeting, however, when Barberie reported that he had been asked questions by community members about the upcoming bond election. Barberie brandished a four-page color flier that has been mailed to San Marino residents containing information about the project that Barberie said is false, including an claim that the SMUSD’s Facilities Advisory Committee Committee—to which Barberie served as board liaison—evaluated and unanimously agreed that our schools need over $200 million in upgrades.
When contacted by The Tribune on Wednesday, Barberie said that the unanimous decision “was that the district should move forward with a bond to address our most significant needs.” He said the committee never took a vote on the $200 million figure.
Barberie said that he was never consulted about either the contents of the flier or its cost,
State law says that school boards and its members may not actively advocate for a bond or parcel tax but can provide factual information.
“This doesn’t sit well with me,” Barberie said. “I just want a fair election.”
Wilson did not immediately return an email requesting data on the flier.
