Divided PUSD school board cuts budget by $25 million after emotional vote

The Pasadena Unified School District board voted 4-3 Thursday night to cut $24.5 million from next year’s budget by eliminating dozens of positions from schools and central administration.

The vote determined the lion’s share of the district’s planned $30.5 million budget reduction and represents about 16% of the district's $189 million projected general fund next school year.

“We are losing people that we care about and love,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said. “I'm not going to deny that. But our programs are going to be different. They're still going to be here.”

Among the cuts are $17.2 million in librarians, teachers, gardeners and school office staff.

The board eliminated just over $5 million in district administration and canceled more than $2.2 million of contracted services such as professional development.

Though the majority of the board supported an amendment to make steeper cuts to administration and partially restore the athletics budget and several teaching positions, the split vote revealed competing visions of how to move the district forward with fewer resources.

“Overall in looking at these cuts, I'm still not sure exactly what we're doing wrong in our spending,” said board member Kimberly Kenne.

How did the community respond?

The district tasked a group of staff, parents, students, labor partners and community members with evaluating and ranking programs and positions to eliminate from schools.

As of Thursday, more than 1,000 people had signed an online petition urging the district leadership to reconsider the proposal. More than a hundred parents, educators and students filled the board’s chambers and two overflow rooms.

Many spoke in support of the programs and funding recommended for elimination, including arts, science, athletics and librarians.

Lyric Mims, left, is a junior in Thurgood Marshall Secondary School’s Academy for Creative Industries and attended Thursday's board meeting, along with dozens of other students, educators and parents.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Pasadena High School sophomore Cory Collins-Lopez said he considered going to a charter school during his freshman year.

“I felt like I was just going to the school and not really belonging there,” Collins-Lopez said. But that feeling changed after playing for the water polo and swim teams.

“Those sports have been a very major factor in my enjoyment and sense of belonging at the school at this current moment,” Collins-Lopez said.

Pasadena Unified competes for students with dozens of local private and charter schools. The proliferation of private schools dates to the 1970s, when white families fled the district to evade desegregation.

Parent Gina Cohen said she pulled two of her five children from PUSD schools to access more special education services and arts programs.

“I would love for my children to stay in this district, but we are being pushed out one talent, interest and special need at a time,” Cohen said.

What are the details of the final plan?

After more than an hour and a half of discussion, the board altered the district’s recommendations and:

• Restored about six career and technical education teachers at the district’s high schools. 
• Reduced cuts to athletics by more than a half-million dollars, with each high school eliminating between $100,000 and $143,000 based on student enrollment. 
• Increased central office cuts from $3.6 million and about 28 positions to $5.1 million and 38 positions. 

The teachers union estimated layoffs for about 40 educators, including science and arts teachers.

Jonathan Gardner, United Teachers of Pasadena president, urged the board to cut more administrative positions during Thursday's meeting.

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Mariana Dale

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LAist

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Library services across the district will be reduced to part time.

“Middle school libraries, in particular, are designed to get kids joyfully reading and writing and we do,” said Octavia E. Butler Magnet librarian Natalie Daily. “But it takes being there every day.”

For example, Butler has held a science-fiction festival inspired by the school’s namesake, a PUSD alumna, for the past four years.

Also among the layoffs are dozens of members from unions representing school support staff, including custodians, security guards and the gardeners who helped restore campuses after the Eaton Fire.

A student at the 2024 Octavia E. Butler Library Science Fiction Festival. “It's just ways for kids to be engaged in both science and art and creation,” librarian and organizer Natalie Daily said of the event at the time.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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Cuts to athletics would be spread across high schools. Previously, district staff predicted that schools would have to eliminate some of their teams.

John Muir High School Athletic Director Alfredo Resendiz said the change will allow the school to preserve its 17 athletic programs, though teams will likely play fewer games and need to do more fundraising.

“ We're gonna be working overtime during the Thanksgiving break [at] all sites to make sure that we get those numbers and keep as many teams as possible while trying to offer the full athletic experience for every student athlete," Resendiz said.

Impact to the central office

Ahead of the vote Thursday, many parents expressed concerns that schools shouldered too much of the burden, as opposed to central administration.

While the board ultimately decreased the central office budget, nearly half of the board’s members voted against the amendment.

All expressed reservations about eliminating additional central office positions, which include people responsible for payroll, curriculum development, the special education department and the educational channel, KLRN, which broadcasts the board meetings and other district events.

District staff said it was unclear how these responsibilities would be redistributed to school sites.

“It's just hard to conceive burdening a system that's already burdened and still being able to bring our best to our classrooms,” said board member Michelle R. Bailey.

How did PUSD get to this point?

For the past several years, PUSD has spent more money than it brings in.

One factor is that PUSD, like many districts in the region, is enrolling fewer students, and the state funds schools based on average daily attendance.

“Over the past 30 years, Pasadena Unified has faced a mounting fiscal calamity, one that you can no longer ignore or postpone,” Octavio Castelo, director of business advisory services for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, said at Thursday’s meeting. “Despite your best efforts and intentions, the district has not been able to live within its means.”

LACOE has warned that without significant reductions in spending, the district will not be able to meet its financial obligations and risks losing the ability to govern itself. He said the district is projected to have $149.4 million of deficit spending between 2025 and 2028.

“This is not a temporary shortfall,” Castelo said. “It's a structural crisis.”

The board must now submit a fiscal report to the county in the beginning of December. Layoff notices related to the cuts would be issued by March 2026 and the changes would take effect next school year.

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