Pasco teachers, students left with unfinished ceramics after fire marshal halts kiln use

Board President Amanda Brown heard multiple public comments Wednesday detailing the sudden closure of school kilns after a Pasco Fire Marshal review, leaving students’ ceramic projects uncompleted and teachers seeking a clear plan to bring equipment back into service.

The issue matters because ceramics instruction involves multi-week projects that students often keep as mementos; teachers and union leaders said the shutdown affects final grading, student morale and the practical completion of coursework.

Trevor Dunston, who identified himself as a Pasco parent, district teacher and vice president of the Pasco Association of Educators, told the board he was “saddened for a recent loss the district has taken to the arts department” and asked what the district’s plan is “to try to get those kilns back up to code in those buildings.”

Crystal Luttrell, identified in public comment as the ceramics teacher at Chiawana High School, told the board a district staff member and the Pasco Fire Marshal recently inspected her kiln room and instructed her to stop a firing that was in progress. Luttrell described large classes and multiple projects per student: “I run classes of roughly 30 students each. And each student on average makes, 4 projects in my class,” she said, and added that each project typically must be loaded and fired twice.

Luttrell delivered dozens of student letters to illustrate “tremendous frustration and sadness” and read one excerpt from a student named Aiden Monzo: “Pottery is such a great creative outlet for me. I can create these pieces that I can make with my own hands over a period of days, months… I’ve poured so much of my hard work into these pieces that won’t be finished because they closed the kilns.”

Kim Lerman, an art teacher who said she teaches at Tijuana High School, asked the board and district staff to pursue interim solutions while the safety issues are resolved, including using community kiln space and exploring alternative finishing methods. Lerman said the district’s May 5 notice offered “no solutions” and urged more collaborative problem-solving between teachers and district administrators.

Superintendent Whitney told speakers she is “engaging with the city” to get clarity about what changed since previous annual inspections and asked teachers to share their student letters. Whitney said district staff would seek “clarity from the city, like what they want from us to bring our kilns to spec,” and that staff was already connecting teachers with city contacts and exploring community kiln options.

Maria Lee, president of the Pasco Association of Educators, asked the board to remember that individual teachers are personally affected by reassignment conversations and reassured board members that union representatives have been meeting with teachers in affected buildings.

What happened: District staff and the Pasco Fire Marshal inspected kiln rooms and cited code issues that resulted in an immediate halt to kiln operation in multiple buildings. Teachers described projects mid-process that require firing to be completed; a typical advanced class load was described as about 20 projects per kiln cycle, with glazing and a second firing necessary to finish coursework.

What the district will do next: Superintendent Whitney said district staff are collecting the student letters and engaging the City of Pasco for specifics on the code violations and remediation steps. District staff also indicated they would pursue temporary community kiln access where possible to allow students to finish spring work.

Formal action: None. The board took no formal vote during the meeting on this item; district staff report they will continue coordination with the city and teachers and will return with clarification and proposed next steps.

Teachers and parents asked the board for rapid, concrete remedies before the end of the school year, including (1) clarity from the City of Pasco about specific code items that failed inspection, (2) an inventory of which kilns and schools are affected, and (3) short‑term external kiln access to finish student work. District staff requested the student letters and said they would follow up with the city and community partners.