Monrovia Unified board votes 3-2 to consolidate middle schools, designate Clifton and close Santa Fe

MONROVIA — The Monrovia Unified School District Board of Education voted 3-2 at a special meeting called to order at 7:02 p.m. to rescind a prior delay and approve the superintendent’s recommendation to designate Clifton Middle School as the district’s middle school and close Santa Fe Computer Science Magnet School.

The decision followed more than an hour of public comment and heated board deliberations over fiscal projections, community engagement and process. Parent speakers uniformly urged the board to act; Danielle Dietz, a parent and Monrovia alum, said, "Closing Santa Fe is the right decision, and we need to move forward." Another speaker, Jeremy Bestpitch, told the board that ongoing delays were leaving families and staff "in limbo."

Board members debated two linked actions: first, a motion to rescind the board’s Jan. 21 delay of the designation and the appointment of a consolidation committee; second, a motion to approve the superintendent’s recommendation to consolidate to Clifton and close Santa Fe. Both measures were approved on 3-2 roll-call votes. The clerk recorded votes as: Hammond — yes; Ocone — no; Gomez Tagle — no; Lockerbie — yes; President Trivante — yes.

Superintendent Dr. Hartrodas presented slides showing multi-year cost-reduction figures: $2,250,000 identified for 2024–25, an additional $2,300,000 for 2025–26, and a projected roughly $1.2 million in savings tied to middle-school consolidation. The district said those savings come from discontinuing certain positions rather than immediate layoffs; officials told the board that many affected employees would be placed into existing vacancies.

Several community members and board members pressed the district for clearer numbers. An audience speaker who identified himself as an IT professional said the district had "spent $1,700,000 in overtime" and questioned how previously advertised savings had changed. Board Member Hammond described the long-range budget projections as "voodoo," said he had resorted to a public records request after being denied information he had requested, and said the data he received did not support the claim the district still stood to save $10 million in two years.

Board Member Ocone (speaking at length before votes) said he accepted that consolidation may be unavoidable given declining enrollment and fiscal realities but argued the process lacked a properly constituted community-based consolidation committee and more rigorous, documented analysis. Ocone said recent local events had reduced families’ willingness to engage and that a formally structured committee could have better surfaced those concerns.

Board Member Lockerbie acknowledged personal reservations but said she would vote to allow the district to move forward: "I will be voting against my conscience, but for so that the district can proceed," she said.

Speakers raised questions about specific funding tied to Santa Fe. One commenter noted nearly $4,000,000 in modernization funding earmarked for Santa Fe and asked how consolidation would affect eligibility and use of that funding; staff said modernization dollars were part of the discussion but did not provide an exact accounting at the dais. District staff also told the board that utility-savings from closing a campus were expected but had not been quantified for the projection.

The board asked staff to return with a detailed transition plan and next steps; the superintendent said a scaffold had been shared at a prior meeting and that a more detailed list would be provided this week. The special meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m.

What happens next: district staff will prepare and share a detailed transition plan describing personnel placement, timeline, transportation implications and steps to preserve any eligible modernization funding; the district’s public materials and future board packets will be the venue for those details.