PUSD special meeting - the Cliff Notes version

In case you didn't make it through PUSD's special board meeting on reconstitution at John Muir High School last night, here's a few golden quotes from the evening:

“This is the most significant public safety decision that will be made in this city in this decade,” - Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian speaking in advance of the board's unanimous vote to begin the reinvention process at John Muir. He went on to cite statistics that more than 70 percent of the state’s prison inmates are functionally illiterate, and said the majority of impoverished youth report feeling disconnected from a larger community and purpose. He called the plan for small learning communities “conceptually excellent.”

“I think the board is often accused of being pretty stupid sometimes. But one of the best things we did is hire Mr. Diaz.”- Scott Phelps praising Superintendent Edwin Diaz and giving the board a little pat on the back for brining him to Pasadena.

“Past fixes have been band aids,” - Dr. Sandra Thomas, Altadena Town Council member, referring to the various plans to boost achievement at John Muir. She called the Superintendent's plan “more of a permanent fix to bring our beloved school back to the proud institution it once was.”

“Every speaker talked about the Turkey Tussle. This pained me to my heart.” - School Board member Renatta Cooper, comparing the graduation speeches she heard at Muir last spring to those she heard at the other PUSD high schools.
Cooper said while other schools mentioned scholarship money and where its graduates would be attending college “ all of those references were pretty much absent,” at Muir.
Said she hoped future classes would have so many other things to talk about that the Tussle would barely come up.

“John Muir has changed since last year, last year nobody really cared, this year they're like, super strict.” - Michelle Murgueitio, John Muir High school student, talking about the difference on campus she's witnessed between the last and present school years.