Huge budgets cuts, enrollment drops: Pasadena schools struggle to rebuild after Eaton fire
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The Pasadena Unified School District faces a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, and schools in Pasadena face enrollment declines in the aftermath of the Eaton fire.
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.
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.