Friday, June 20, 2025

Latino Parents Challenge Pasadena School Closures in Ongoing Lawsuit

Civil rights group alleges discrimination in 2019 shuttering of three majority-Latino elementary schools

A status conference is scheduled for Friday in a discrimination lawsuit against the Pasadena Unified School District pursued by seven Latino parents over the 2019 closure of three elementary schools with predominantly Latino student populations.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court in January 2023 on behalf of parents Luz Becerra, Jose Flores, David Chavez, Belen Cid-Garcia, Carla Ponce, Jess Mancia and Danae Tapia, according to MALDEF.

The lawsuit challenges the district’s September 2019 decision to close Roosevelt, Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools. Roosevelt Elementary was 88 percent Latino, Jefferson was 86 percent Latino and Franklin was 76 percent Latino during the 2019-20 school year, according to state Department of Education data cited in Yahoo News.

“Pasadena Unified School District failed to take into account basic racial equity when it decided to close three majority-Latino schools,” said Erika Cervantes, a staff attorney with MALDEF. “Pasadena Unified School District has placed these schools last when it comes to investment in the students’ education.”

The Pasadena school board voted 4-3 to close the three schools, affecting approximately 850 students.  Students from Roosevelt Elementary were directed to Madison Elementary, Jefferson students to Longfellow Elementary and Franklin students to Altadena Elementary, according to television news reports.

Roosevelt Elementary was the only school in the district specifically designed to accommodate children with special needs, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleges some students lost access to programs such as STEM and Spanish Dual Language Immersion after transfers, according to MALDEF.

One plaintiff, Luz Becerra, has a second-grade child with osteoporosis who uses a wheelchair and was transferred from Roosevelt Elementary to Willard Elementary, five miles away, according to Yahoo News. As Becerra does not drive, she found difficulties transporting her child to school, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges that some students experienced emotional distress, including depression, and sought therapy after the transfers, according to Yahoo News.

“The proposals in front of you today only represent the discussions of three board members and staff,” David Chavez, a Franklin parent and lawsuit plaintiff, told the school board during the September 2019 closure meeting, according to the Pasadena Star News. “That’s just not justice; that’s just us being kept out and disregarded.”

The closures were prompted by declining enrollment and budget constraints. District enrollment had dropped by 1,200 students over seven years, and officials aimed to cut $4 million through school closures.

Jefferson Elementary’s enrollment actually increased before its closure, from 382 students in the 2017-18 school year to 409 in the 2019-20 school year.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the California State Constitution’s guarantee of education rights and state codes prohibiting denial of benefits based on ethnicity or race. MALDEF seeks a court order requiring the district to conduct a new, equitable school closure process, according to MALDEF.

None of the closed schools were in the eastern part of the district, which generally has higher percentages of white students and lower percentages of Latino students, according to MALDEF. The district considered but did not close two schools with declining enrollment where the student population had a lower percentage of Latino students than the shuttered schools, according to MALDEF.

The district’s overall student body is 57.8 percent Latino, 19.1 percent white, 10.5 percent Black and 5.2 percent Asian, according to Yahoo News citing state attendance figures. The district serves more than 15,000 students across Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, according to MALDEF.

About 13.8 percent of district students are learning English, with approximately 90 percent of these students having Spanish as their first language, according to Yahoo News. About two-thirds of students belong to families with income low enough to qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school, according to Yahoo News.

The lawsuit alleges parents were not given adequate notice before the closures, with notification coming just a week before the closures were formally approved, according to Yahoo News.

Pasadena Unified School District has defended the closures, stating the district followed a transparent process involving a task force of parents, staff and community members over nearly two years, according to ColoradoBoulevard.net.

“This was a very painful decision for everyone,” said Larry Torres, then-president of the Board of Education, according to NBC Los Angeles. “… in the weeks ahead, we will work to ensure that the transition to new schools is as smooth as possible for everyone.”

This lawsuit follows a 2018 federal case filed by MALDEF against the district that was dismissed, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denying the appeal in 2020, according to ColoradoBoulevard.net.

“Well more than half of California public school students today are Latino,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel, according to MALDEF. “Ensuring fairness that will facilitate education equity for Latino students is essential to the future success of California; Pasadena Unified School District must redo its decision-making on school closures to reflect this imperative.”