San Rafael Elementary students and staff are expected to leave their campus for about two years while Pasadena Unified rebuilds it, moving to Allendale Elementary. The district has now selected KEMP Bros. Construction, Inc., and LPA Design Studios to take the project from design through construction, according to Pasadena Now. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2027.
The planned move gives the project a practical dimension beyond the construction site. Allendale is also serving as Longfellow Magnet School’s temporary location during Longfellow’s modernization in the 2026–27 school year. The district has not provided a detailed schedule for San Rafael’s transfer or a date for students to return.
The project’s scale is still unclear
Public figures for San Rafael differ substantially. A draft Pasadena Unified Fiscal Year 2025 bond program listed project costs of $35,247,850, including $3,857,497 in SFC funding and $31,390,353 in district funds. A later capital-plan roadmap, as reported by Pasadena Now, listed $131,716,808 for the two-year reconstruction, including Measure R and Measure O funding and other allocations. The latest announcement of the design-build team did not give a final construction contract amount, so the available figures do not establish the current authorized total.
The board’s choice of a full rebuild rather than partial modernization followed an April 23 vote; a motion to delay that decision failed, according to Pasadena Now. The question of scope has a district-wide counterpart: PJHM Architects describes Madison Elementary’s project as a whole-site modernization, a different approach from San Rafael’s complete reconstruction.
A comparison, with important limits
Temporary school arrangements can take different forms. In a separate Los Angeles Unified case, the Los Angeles Times reported that Marquez Elementary students in Pacific Palisades returned to a temporary campus on their own school site after their school burned in the Palisades fire. San Rafael’s planned move is instead to another campus while construction proceeds; the circumstances are not otherwise comparable.
Pasadena Unified has said it plans to release designs for the replacement campus and provide opportunities for families, staff and nearby residents to review proposals and offer input. No dates for those sessions have been announced. The selected design-build team will handle both the design and construction phases, but the district has not yet specified the final contract amount or a detailed relocation calendar.
