Pasadena Board Of Education

The Pasadena Board of Education has voted to replace embattled school Supt. Percy Clark Jr., who frequently clashed with the teachers union and was recently accused of plagiarizing portions of an opinion piece in a local weekly newspaper. Clark will retire from the district no later than the end of his current contract in July 2007 and may leave sooner if a replacement is found, according to a statement released Wednesday.

The Pasadena Board of Education has voted to replace embattled school Supt. Percy Clark Jr., who frequently clashed with the teachers union and was recently accused of plagiarizing portions of an opinion piece in a local weekly newspaper. Clark will retire from the district no later than the end of his current contract in July 2007 and may leave sooner if a replacement is found, according to a statement released Wednesday.

Board of Education Member George A. Padilla announced Wednesday that he is retiring April 30, two years before his term is up. "I have reached most of my personal goals," Padilla said. "The demands of my work and the board are putting a strain on me." Padilla was first elected to the five-member Pasadena Unified board a decade ago when he became the city's first elected Latino. He served as board president from 1995 to 1997, and is now in his third four-year term.

Board of Education Member George A. Padilla announced Wednesday that he is retiring April 30, two years before his term is up. "I have reached most of my personal goals," Padilla said. "The demands of my work and the board are putting a strain on me." Padilla was first elected to the five-member Pasadena Unified board a decade ago when he became the city's first elected Latino. He served as board president from 1995 to 1997, and is now in his third four-year term.

With each click of his mouse, Sam Picture wondered if John Muir High School was a good career move. Stories of high dropout rates, low test scores and violence popped on his screen when he researched the 55-acre campus in northwest Pasadena in January 2008. He didn't see it as a deterrent, but rather, a challenge. Picture, now the school's athletic director, is one of the many teachers, administrators and counselors hired to turn around the troubled high school, which since 2001 has cycled through five principals.

Nov. 16, 1951: "An embarrassed Pasadena Board of City Directors ... decided that they have no moral right to display 'war loot' in the City Hall foyer," The Times reported. "So the Japanese temple bell which was brought to the Crown City aboard the USS Pasadena at the conclusion of World War II will somehow be returned to its rightful home." The city's decision was prompted by a letter from 1st Lt. David C.

Pasadena City College is a step closer to acquiring property for a new skills center after a decision Tuesday by the Pasadena Board of Education to sell a former school site to a public entity, rather than seek the highest bid. The five member board's unanimous approval of the sale will allow school administrators to begin negotiating a price with the college for the property at 3081 Foothill Blvd.

The South Pasadena Board of Education has approved a new contract with 158 teachers, giving the teachers a 10% wage increase beginning next month. In the action taken late Monday, the board also agreed to binding arbitration on disciplinary and policy matters, something a majority of the board had opposed last week, saying it threatened the panel's independence. Last Wednesday, the teachers staged the first strike in the district's 100-year history.

The Pasadena Board of Education has endorsed a special library tax ballot measure calling on residents to guarantee funding for the city's libraries, which play an integral role in the lives of students. In its first regular meeting with newly elected member Lisa Fowler, the board voted unanimously to back the June ballot measure that city officials hope will raise $1.3 million to aid the cash-strapped Central Library and its eight branches.

The Pasadena Board of Education unanimously elected the Rev. George Van Alstine as president and George A. Padilla as vice president at its annual reorganization meeting last week. New board member Lisa Fowler took office during the meeting. She defeated incumbent Wilbert L. Smith in a runoff election April 20. A senior pastor at Altadena Baptist Church, Van Alstine, 56, has been a board member for two years.

A school-sponsored child-care program that faced closure will continue, thanks to $47,500 from the city and two agencies that stepped in to run it. Pasadena's Board of Education last week approved a proposal to allow the Pasadena Day Nursery and Altadena Christian Children's Center to provide child care before and after school at five school sites.