Issue: Pasadena’s New Schools Chief : What would you like to tell Vera Vignes, the new superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District?

Theresa Lewis

44, Pasadena Homemaker and parent I have 11 children in Pasadena Unified from elementary to junior high and senior high school. Dr Vignes is very caring. I’ve been to board meetings, and I’ve seen how she is able to be close with the students. She listens to what you have to say. She doesn’t have this ‘I’m the professional and you’re the lowly student’ attitude. There isn’t that big empty space there. She can communicate and she’s accessible.

I think this is the best decision that has ever been made. She wants to get the schools back to basics, and I would tell her, ‘Don’t let anyone get you off that track.’ She has the right idea, students need to get the good basic foundations in the Three Rs.

John Alosi

48, Pasadena Teacher at John Muir High I’d like to see the superintendent come onto our individual campuses, maybe for faculty meetings, to communicate with staff and students and find out what kinds of problems we have at school. You seldom see superintendents on campus. They’ve been referred to as phantoms or ghosts.

The budget in Sacramento is really affecting us. We’ve had teachers and a lot of classified people laid off. We’re running 35 to 40 kids per class, and we all have a fear it could get up to 45 or 50 if this budget crisis doesn’t ease up. It’s like they’re warehousing kids, when class size gets that big. It’s frustrating. It creates discipline problems and affects learning.

Kimberly Ashley

17, Altadena Senior at Muir High We need more interesting teachers, not ones who say, ‘Do this, do that,’ everything out of a book. We’re kids; we’re not adults yet. I had a teacher, he made me want to learn. He began each class with an article from the newspaper, just to keep the students’ minds clicking. He kept everybody thinking. It was really interesting, and I’d like to see more teachers like that.

It’s hard to think of my campus as a school, with all the bars around it. We don’t have any more windows; they boarded them up. We have no lockers. I know that’s necessary, but it makes it look like we’re in a jail. A little bit of badness, madness, is going to be there no matter what, but I think they should bring in a few more security guards.

Susan Kinney

46, Pasadena Co-owner of Castle Press I think the new superintendent is going to do a good job. If it was someone from outside, I would have been worried, but I think she’s going to be very good for the city; she’s been here many years and knows how the district works. There’s nothing like experience.

I feel comfortable with her. I’ve known her for the last two years. She’s going to be very involved in the community. And we’ve committed to hiring one to two kids a year. The kids coming out of the Graphic Arts Academy (a program within Pasadena High School) are going to be permanent employees. We know that what they’re getting is a first-class education, and having the superintendent buy into that whole process is extremely important. We want to be able to employ people who have graduated from the program. We are in an African-American neighborhood. We’re real concerned that we need to have good employees living here.

Suzi Houser-Hubbard

52, Pasadena District nurse for three schools I hear great things about her, that she’s an open person and a tough person, that she has high standards. I really respect that. I hope she’s willing and able to withstand a lot of political pressure. I’m delighted that she’s a female.

I would tell her, ‘Be willing to take risks and make new plans for health care.’ One third of the population doesn’t have any health insurance coverage. We’ve got to totally revamp our health care system so that it becomes a right, not a privilege. We need to be offering total health care services for families on the school campus.