Loma Alta Preschool to Move to Burbank Elementary Next Month

Pasadena Unified School District officials told the district's board that they will move up their plans to relocate a Los Angeles Universal Preschool-run program from Loma Alta Elementary to Burbank Elementary, completing the move by the end of August.

The move was initially discussed in two community meetings in June with Altadena residents, but officials at the time said the relocation would not happen before December.

The school, which is funded by the Los Angeles Universal Preschool non-profit program, includes autistic and other special needs kids.  Moving the school to the vacated Burbank campus could allow for a larger enrollment, according to officials.

In addition, moving up the relocation satisfies concerns on the part of LAUP that moving the kids mid-year could be extremely disruptive (LAUP officials talked about those concerns in an earlier this month).

David Azcárraga, the chief facilities officer for PUSD told the district board Tuesday that the plans to speed up the move happened because they were unexpectedly able to get through the county permitting process in weeks, rather than months.

"Miraculously enough, something happened and three months became three weeks," Azcárraga said.

Board President Renatta Cooper attributed the change to the intervention of County Supervisor Michael Antonovich who was a big initial supporter of the LAUP program when it came to Altadena in 2009.

Azcárraga acknowledged Tuesday that he had told Altadena community members that the district would inform them of any move to speed up relocation plans - many neighbors of the school said they had major concerns with traffic issues resulting from bringing more programs to the campus.

He suggested that district officials meet with the Altadena community to discuss the new plans.

Painting and other work will be carried out at the Burbank campus to prepare for the new school, with a total cost in the range of $22,000 to $25,000.  The district will also be striping off nine new parking spots to help encourage parents to drop off children on the campus, rather than on neighborhood streets.

Overall, officials said they believe the school's presence will not make traffic any worse than it has been with the elementary school present on campus in the past.

The LAUP school currently has 26 students enrolled, but has space for up to 40, and possibly more if some students are participating in half-day programs rather than full-day ones.