Thursday, June 26, 2025

Board of Education Faces Deep Budget Cuts Amid Financial Crisis at Thursday Meeting

District board confronts $37.9 million deficit with sweeping stabilization plan

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education will address a $37.9 million operating deficit on Thursday, voting on a fiscal stabilization plan that could dramatically reshape the district’s educational landscape.

The board’s most critical agenda item involves adopting the budget and an $83.1 million stabilization plan that includes cutting 120 staff positions by the 2026-27 school year and reducing central office expenses.

The plan’s objectives are to prevent county or state intervention and address financial challenges from declining enrollment, expired COVID-19 funds, and rising operational costs.

In what would be a significant facilities response to recent infrastructure damage, the board could authorize a $17.53 million reconstruction of Franklin Elementary School, which was devastated by the Eaton Fire. The project will rebuild the destroyed school and create a “swing space” campus to accommodate Madison Elementary during its 2026 modernization.

Additional capital improvement projects include modernization efforts at Longfellow Elementary, John Muir High School’s gymnasium, and district-wide restroom and infrastructure repairs totaling millions in voter-approved bond funds.

The board is also expected to ratify tentative labor agreements with two employee unions — PACTE and CSEA — potentially providing salary increases and benefit adjustments for classified staff. The agreements will affect hundreds of non-teaching staff, including office clerks, custodians, and aides.

Community stakeholders are expected to closely monitor the meeting, as the budget decisions could significantly impact educational services and public trust in the school district.

The full agenda is online here.

The meeting starts at 5 p.m. with the public session to be called to order at 7:20 p.m., at Eblie J. Hickambottom Board Room at 351 S. Hudson Avenue in Pasadena.

Regular meetings are broadcast live on Charter Cable Channel 95 and on the internet at http://live.boardmeetings.info.

Rebroadcasts are aired several times during the week; call 1-800-912-KLRN or visit www.KLRN.us for a schedule.