Saturday, July 11, 2026

City Obtains Court Warrant, Inspects John Muir High School Trees a Day After Being Turned Away

Jurisdictional tussle over protected trees heats up between the city and the school district

The City of Pasadena sent a certified arborist and city inspectors onto the campus of John Muir High School on Friday under a court-ordered inspection warrant, forcing its way onto Pasadena Unified School District property one day after district crews turned city officials away.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court granted the warrant after the district repeatedly denied the city voluntary access to determine which trees on campus may be protected under Pasadena’s tree-protection ordinance.

City officials said the inspection would establish how many protected trees had been cut down — and whether the district broke city law — as PUSD carries out Eaton Fire soil remediation that has already felled more than 70 trees across its campuses.

The move was the sharpest escalation yet in a weeklong standoff between the city and the school district that turns on a single question: whether a municipal ordinance governs trees on school grounds, or whether state-directed environmental cleanup overrides it. The answer will shape the fate of nearly 200 mature trees — and how quickly students return to fully usable schools this fall.

“Despite the City of Pasadena’s numerous attempts to cooperatively come to a resolution,” Chief Communications Officer Lisa Derderian said Friday, the district “has continued the removal of trees at various locations in violation of posted stop work orders.”

She said the city was prepared to conduct the inspection “in an expeditious manner” and supported returning students to a safe campus “as soon as possible.”

The district said it was cooperating. In a statement attributed to a district spokesperson, PUSD said it was complying with the warrant and providing access “as required” while keeping safety protocols in place around active soil-removal areas.

But the district conceded no ground on the central legal point, saying the “state-overseen soil removal and restoration work is not subject to the City’s tree ordinance, a legal issue that remains under discussion between the parties.”

The district said its focus remained on completing the cleanup “to protect students, staff and families and return them to safe, healthy, fully usable campuses,” and that it remained willing to work with city leadership as the work moves forward.

A turbulent Thursday

Friday’s inspection followed a volatile day at the same campus.

On Thursday, PUSD crews resumed felling trees at John Muir despite the city’s stop-work orders. City officials dispatched to the site were denied access.

“We sent City officials to the site where they were told to leave,” Derderian said, warning that continued operations could draw fines “in the thousands of dollars” and hold additional legal implications. She said the city had made several attempts to gain the district’s cooperation.

The day also produced a separate confrontation and altercation on the campus.

According to the district, several individuals entered or tried to enter the restricted soil-removal zone, and one became involved in a physical altercation with a Pasadena City College staff member working on site. Law enforcement was reportedly contacted.

No arrests or injuries were reported, no students were involved, and summer programs at John Muir continued without disruption, the district said.

PUSD said it respects “peaceful, lawful expression” but has a responsibility to secure active work areas, and that trespassing into removal zones “creates safety risks and cannot be allowed.”

The district also disputed that it had broken tree rules that day, saying it removed only non-protected trees in soil-excavation areas and that wildlife biologists had confirmed no migratory nesting birds were present and no protected native or mature trees were taken down.

What the ordinance requires

Pasadena’s tree-protection ordinance, adopted in 2010 and codified in Chapter 8.52 of the municipal code, requires a city permit before anyone removes a protected tree — defined as a native, specimen, landmark, landmark-eligible, mature or public tree — on public or private property within city limits.

When the rules are violated, the city may issue stop-work orders, levy fines and require replacement plantings.

The city argues those rules apply to the school district like any other property owner, that PUSD never obtained the required permits, and that it kept cutting after stop-work orders were posted — first at John Muir on July 1, then across seven campuses on July 8.

The City Council met in closed session to weigh initiating litigation against the district.

Why the district is felling trees

PUSD says the removals are a byproduct of cleaning up the January 2025 Eaton Fire. Under a voluntary agreement with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the district tested soil at 15 campuses and found elevated levels of lead, arsenic and chromium at 13 of them — with lead at some sites measured at roughly three times the state screening limit. Eight campuses were cleaned before the 2025-26 school year; 11 remain for this summer.

The district’s plan called for removing 193 trees rooted within the contaminated-soil excavation footprints — not, it stresses, a wholesale clearing of a district that maintains more than 5,000 trees.

Officials estimate the roughly $6.6 million project needs to be finished before students return for the 2026-27 year, and say trees growing in tainted soil have to come out before crews can dig it up.

On the advice of its lawyers, the district contends the state’s authority over school-soil cleanup supersedes the city ordinance, citing DTSC’s mandate under the state Health and Safety Code as “not discretionary.”