Saturday, May 16, 2026

UTP President Says Teachers Union Has Not Taken Formal Position on Allegations Against School Board

Jonathan Gardner tells Pasadena Now the union does not anticipate joining calls for trustee resignations, characterizes recall demands as “political grandstanding,” and says unfulfilled fall budget promises are a greater concern

United Teachers of Pasadena President Jonathan Gardner said in a telephone interview Friday that the union has not taken a formal position on allegations of misconduct against four Pasadena Unified School District trustees, is not initiating action against the Board of Education at this time, and does not anticipate joining any litigation which may be brought by other parties.

Gardner characterized public calls for trustee resignations and recalls as “political grandstanding.”  He said the District’s failure to follow through on fall budget commitments is, in his view, “a much bigger violation of the public trust” than the matters publicly raised in connection with the open-meeting allegations.

Gardner spoke to Pasadena Now the day after a May 14 special meeting at which Sierra Madre Mayor Kristine “Kris” Lowe and eight other in-person commenters demanded the resignation of Board President Tina Fredericks and three fellow trustees, alleging the four had engaged in coordinated private communications in violation of California Government Code Section 54950, the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Gardner said no United Teachers of Pasadena members had raised concerns with him about the allegations.

He said he did not anticipate the union taking a formal position on the matter, though he added that “things can change.”

Gardner identified a separate, and in his view more serious, concern with the District’s recent conduct. He said Pasadena Unified School District had committed in the fall, in connection with the Superintendent’s Budget Committee, to bring back items that had been cut if District finances improved. The District’s second interim budget report showed those finances did improve, he said, but the Board has not agendized restoring those items or shown any plan to do so.

“For us, that’s a much bigger violation of the public trust than what’s being shared at this time because those are promises that were made, that we discussed, that were approved,” Gardner said.

He said the outside consultants leading the consolidation process “have not managed to provide a process that is trustworthy” and that “people have a lot of questions about it.”