[photo credit: Office of Supervisor Kathryn Barger]

Early-bird registration for the second Altadena Forever Run closes at 11:59 p.m. Monday, after which the 10K entry fee rises from $59.30 to $64.60 and registration for the 5K closes and reopens at a new price tier.

The benefit race is hosted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Altadena Station in collaboration with the Sheriff’s Support Group of Altadena and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Athletic Association, and it returns to Mariposa Junction in Altadena on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027, three days after the second anniversary of the Eaton Fire. Its first run delivered $148,485.84 to the Altadena Eaton Fire Relief Fund and the Sheriff’s Support Group of Altadena.

The 10K starts at 8 a.m., the 5K at 8:15 a.m. and the 1K Family Run at 10 a.m., all from Mariposa Junction at 849 E. Mariposa St., on Mariposa Street between El Molino and Lake avenues. Runners are asked to be at the start line by 7:30 a.m.

The 10K covers 6.2 miles, following the 5K route before turning west past neighborhoods still rebuilding and passing Charles White Park on the way back to Mariposa Street. The 5K covers 3.1 miles through the lower foothill neighborhoods east of Lake Avenue, and the 1K covers 0.62 mile, starting at El Molino Avenue and looping west past the Altadena Library.

New for 2027, Altadena fire survivors can register for the 1K free of charge, and the registration platform lists a separate Fire Survivors 1K at no cost. Children ages 1 to 10 also enter the 1K Family Fun Walk/Run free. Fire survivors who register for the 1K receive a T-shirt but not the other registration items.

Entry otherwise includes a race bib, a T-shirt, a medal and post-race refreshments. The race is chip-timed with a two-hour course limit, and organizers list two water stations on the 10K and one on the 5K.

The event runs rain or shine. Free parking is available at the Grocery Outlet lot at 2270 Lake Ave. and the former Rite Aid lot at 735 E. Altadena Drive. Packet pickup is set for the Grocery Outlet lot, with days and hours listed as to be determined. Pets and bicycles are not permitted; strollers are allowed but must start at the back of the pack.

Participants who want to raise money beyond their entry fee can join or create a group or team at the bottom of the registration page.

The inaugural run was held Jan. 4, 2026, in heavy rain and under a flood advisory. News coverage at the time put the field at about 3,000 runners and walkers, while the Los Angeles Times reported nearly 2,000 participants and organizers said more than 3,200 people registered. Of the money raised, the Altadena Eaton Fire Relief Fund received 67% of net proceeds in a check for $102,047.32, with the remaining third going to the Sheriff’s Support Group of Altadena; a further $17,010.52 in checkout donations and $29,428 in other direct donations brought the total to $148,485.84, presented to the Altadena Town Council on Feb. 17.

In May, the Sheriff’s Department announced $212,000 in relief grants for Eaton Fire survivors, $148,000 of it raised through the run, and used the announcement to open the 2027 race.

Southern California Gas Co. returns as exclusive title sponsor, the organizers said in a July 21 press release. “SoCalGas believed in this event from the very beginning, and their decision to return as our Title Sponsor sends a powerful message that Altadena’s recovery remains important,” Victoria Knapp, the run’s producer, said in the release. Altadena Sheriff’s Station Capt. Ethan Marquez, who co-chairs the run and was promoted to lead the station in August 2025, said in the same release that the event “is becoming an annual tradition that celebrates resilience, strengthens community, and reminds everyone that Altadena continues to move forward together.”

Registration remains open after Monday at the higher tier. Sign-ups for the 1K and the Fire Survivors 1K run until 9:59 a.m. on race day.

Metrolink will operate on a weekend schedule Monday for Labor Day and offer passengers a $10 day pass for unlimited travel throughout its Southern California rail system.

Metrolink’s $10 SoCal Day Pass provides unlimited rides throughout the system on the day of purchase and is available through the Metrolink mobile app and station ticket machines, officials said.

The agency’s Rail2Rail program, which allows Metrolink Monthly Pass holders to ride eligible Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains at no additional cost, was suspended Friday and will remain suspended through Tuesday because of the holiday. The program will resume Wednesday.

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner codeshare trains that accept Metrolink tickets and passes between Los Angeles and Ventura could have limited availability if holiday ridership exceeds capacity, according to Metrolink.

Meanwhile, Pasadena Transit will suspend service on all but one of its bus routes Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in observance of Labor Day, according to the transit system’s published holiday-schedule notice, according to the city.

Route 33 will be the only Pasadena Transit route in operation, running on its Sunday schedule instead of its regular weekday schedule, the notice states.

All other Pasadena Transit routes, as well as Pasadena Dial-A-Ride, will not operate at all on the holiday, according to the schedule notice published on individual Pasadena Transit route schedule sheets.

Weekend Metro service will operate on the Antelope Valley, Orange County, 91/Perris Valley, San Bernardino, Inland Empire-Orange County and Ventura County lines, along with Arrow service between San Bernardino and Redlands, according to the agency.

The Riverside Line will not operate Monday.

Tina Fredericks says she never intended to sue the 124 residents named as “Doe” parties; it was a paperwork snafu; a trial-setting conference is scheduled Tuesday in Los Angeles

Pasadena Unified School District Board President Tina Fredericks has removed the proponents of a recall effort against her from the lawsuit she filed to block the recall petition, saying they were never meant to be targets of the case.

Fredericks said an unclear understanding of filing requirements resulted in listing “DOES 1 to 124, inclusive” as respondents and defendants in her original July filing.

“I had no intention of suing them,” she said. “From the beginning my goal was just to clear up the falsehoods about me, and that’s it.”

She told Pasadena Now she wants to make clear that people involved in the recall are not targeted by her lawsuit and are no longer described in it.

Fredericks filed an Amended Verified Petition on Sept. 2 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

A hearing to set a trial date is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. The Trial Setting Conference will be heard by Judge Tiana J. Murillo in Department 834.

A trial-setting conference is a scheduling matter rather than a trial. In such conferences, the judge typically determines whether a case is ready to be placed on the trial calendar and works out the practical structure of any future trial — whether the case will be tried to a jury or to the judge, which claims and defenses will be tried, whether discovery is complete, the anticipated length of trial, and witness and counsel availability.

Witnesses are rarely called, and no evidence or testimony on the merits is normally given.

Fredericks filed her original verified petition July 2, naming the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk and 124 unidentified “Doe” parties. That figure corresponded to the number of District 6 residents who signed the notice of intention to circulate the recall petition, according to the original filing.

The action is brought under California Elections Code sections 13314 and 18600 and Code of Civil Procedure sections 1085 and 525, et seq.

Fredericks designated the action a priority matter under Elections Code section 13314(a)(3), a designation state law gives precedence over other civil cases.

The original filing sought a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction barring the county from authorizing circulation of the recall petition until a court could decide whether it should be invalidated.

Fredericks, who represents Trustee Area 6, is listed on the amended petition without an attorney and is representing herself.

The inclusion of the Doe parties drew public criticism through the summer.

Sierra Madre Mayor Kris Lowe, who has demanded Fredericks’ resignation, said in August that she believed she was among the unnamed parties and called the lawsuit an action against the same families the board is meant to serve.

The recall petition’s stated grounds, which Fredericks reproduces and disputes in her filing, allege that she violated California’s Ralph M. Brown Act by coordinating school consolidation plans through private meetings and serial communications, drafted and advanced her own “Consolidation 2027″ plan while portraying the process as independent, and worked with a consultant before it received a taxpayer-funded contract worth more than $233,000.

Fredericks denies each assertion.

She contends no Brown Act violation occurred because the communications involved no more than two or three of the seven board members, short of the majority required for an unlawful serial meeting. She has said “Consolidation 2027″ was a compilation of her personal notes that was never circulated to other board members, staff or the public, and was discovered only through an automated search the district conducted in response to a Public Records Act request.

The district’s outside counsel, Scott D. Danforth of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, wrote in a June 12 letter responding to a Brown Act “cure and correct” demand that there “does not appear to be coordination among more than three Board Members,” while acknowledging “the effect these communications have had on the public’s trust.”

The Board of Education approved the consulting agreement with Total School Solutions on Jan. 22 in a 5-2 vote and voted 7-0 to terminate the contract without cause June 11. The board rescinded Resolution No. 2852, which established optimal school size ranges, on June 25.

“The recall effort against board members does nothing to address the very real challenges that declining enrollment poses to our district and its impact on fully funding classrooms, support staff, and improving student outcomes. Let’s restore decorum in our board room to focus on these issues that unite all of us,” Fredericks said.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk approved recall petitions against Fredericks and Trustee Scott Harden for signature gathering on Aug. 13. Proponents have until Dec. 11 to gather signatures from 20% of eligible voters in each trustee area.

Michelle Berenfeld discusses and signs Lessons from a Lost Republic at Vroman’s at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Michelle Berenfeld is the John A. McCarthy Professor of Classics at Pitzer College. Her new book describes nearly five centuries of representative government undone by wealth and power concentrated among elites, political violence, expansionist wars and a Senate that normalized emergency measures. She is at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Lessons from a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us about This American Moment came out August 11 and sells for $26 in hardcover at the store.

Berenfeld teaches in the Classics field group at Pitzer, an interdisciplinary and intercollegiate program whose courses are taught by faculty at Pitzer, Scripps, Pomona and Claremont McKenna.

The bookstore lists the evening as an adult event and a book signing. Vroman’s asks that attendees buy the book from the store, which it says makes events like this possible.

Vroman’s is open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The store closes at 9 p.m. on Thursday. Arrive early.

For more information, call (626) 449-5320.

Michelle Berenfeld discusses and signs Lessons from a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us about This American Moment will run on Thursday, September 10 at 7 p.m. Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-09-10/michelle-berenfeld.

A registered nurse from Huntington Health takes walk-ins from 10 a.m. to noon in Meeting Room 2, and no appointment is necessary.

A registered nurse from Huntington Health, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai, will be in Meeting Room 2 at the Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center on Tuesday morning offering free health counseling and screenings. The session runs from 10 a.m. to noon at 2659 Lincoln Ave. in Altadena. No appointment is necessary.

The screening covers hypertension, or high blood pressure, and includes a diabetes risk assessment and screening for high blood sugar.

One piece of preparation has to happen before anyone leaves the house: the diabetes screening requires a minimum two-hour fast. Plan the morning around it.

Health promotion literature and resources are available at the session.

The Altadena Library District’s Main Library is closed for renovation, and the district’s branches are keeping extended hours during the closure. Bob Lucas is one of those branches.

The session is free, takes no appointment, and is open to adults 19 or older. Bring any questions about the fasting requirement to the phone first.

The branch itself is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, so the screening window sits early in a long Tuesday. The library’s phone number is (626) 798-8338.

Huntington Health Screening at Bob Lucas will run on Tuesday, September 8 at 10 a.m. to noon. Bob Lucas Memorial Library and Literacy Center, 2659 Lincoln Ave., Altadena. For more information, call (626) 798-8338 or visit https://altadenalibrary.libnet.info/event/16470440. Admission is free.

A Flock Safety camera in use. [Shutterstock]

Rules under which Pasadena’s 61-camera Flock network operates, unchanged

A bill to tighten how California police collect and share automated license plate reader (ALPR) data died in the Assembly without a floor vote last week, leaving Pasadena’s 61-camera Flock network operations unchanged under existing law.

Senate Bill 1013 by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, passed the Senate in May but was stopped by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry on the final day of the session before it could reach the floor, CalMatters reported — the fifth straight year the Legislature has failed to regulate the technology.

In Pasadena, where a City Council committee is divided over whether to keep the cameras at all, the outcome leaves the question to the city.

The bill would have limited police use of plate-reader data to locating criminal suspects or missing people, required privacy and cybersecurity training, restricted sharing with national databases by default and required the attorney general’s office to audit plate-reader activity at random.

A similar Cervantes bill passed in 2025 but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, in part over a requirement that police delete data after 60 days.

“It’s unfortunate that Senate Bill 1013 did not get the chance to be voted on before the deadline passed, but I look forward to continuing to fight for the privacy rights of Californians next year,” Cervantes said in a statement. More than 230 California police and sheriff’s departments use the readers, according to Cervantes.

Nearly 40 law enforcement agencies and police unions opposed the bill.

“We were concerned that this bill was going to limit the utility of ALPR data to solve crimes, find missing persons, exonerate innocent individuals, and so the fact that it did not pass, we’re glad for that,”  Cory Salzillo, legislative director of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, told the news organization.

Pasadena’s program dates to a contract the council approved July 17, 2023, with Flock Group Inc. for cameras at 17 intersections. The Police Department now operates 61 fixed cameras and has asked for 11 more, according to a July 2026 review by Independent Police Auditor Teresa Magula.

That review found no evidence camera locations were chosen on the basis of race or ethnicity, and concluded the program complies with state law and department policy with no evidence of use for immigration enforcement.

The committee that will decide the contract’s future is split. Minutes of its May 20, 2026, meeting record Vice Mayor Jess Rivas, the Public Safety Committee’s chair, favoring termination without a replacement vendor, and Councilmember Steve Madison supporting continued use with adjustments within the municipal code. Councilmember Tyron Hampton favored a new vendor whose system would hold data for the city’s use only absent a warrant. Councilmember Justin Jones raised concerns about data sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and about camera concentration in District 3, according to the minutes.

The committee’s Aug. 19 hearing on the cameras was canceled for lack of a quorum, under a notice the city posted Aug. 12. An April 15 meeting was canceled as well. Its next regular meeting falls on Sept. 16.

Several dozen residents rallied on the west steps of City Hall on Aug. 19 under the banner “DeFlock Pasadena,” organized by a group called Pasadena Privacy, asking the council to disable and remove the cameras, cancel the contract, decline any replacement vendor and redirect the money to community programs. Organizers say the contract comes up in September.

“It’s unnecessary and it’s creepy as hell,” Rivas told the crowd.

Activists rallied at Longfellow Elementary School on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 after Pasadena Unified announced reasons why it intends to remove six mature trees. [Photos provided by Jessica Richards]

The message came four days after the district told the same community that several large, mature trees on Longfellow’s front lawn would need to be removed so contaminated soil beneath and around them could be fully remediated.

The announcement drew swift community pushback.

About a dozen parents, neighbors and tree advocates gathered outside the closed campus on Washington Boulevard the following morning, Sept. 1, disputing the district’s account of the preservation efforts it said had failed.

A second demonstration was called for that Wednesday, continuing what reporters described as a months-long standoff between the district and tree advocates over the fire-recovery cleanup effort.

The opposition was led largely by Friends of PUSD Trees, an advocacy coalition that has tracked the district’s tree removals across 11 campuses since the spring.

The group disputed PUSD’s official explanation — that “air-knifing” excavation to a depth of six inches to a foot had still shown elevated lead levels in the trees’ root zones — and maintained a running public tally showing 106 trees destroyed districtwide as of Sept. 3, at an estimated project cost of $6.6 million.

Parents also raised concerns directly at a PUSD Board of Education special meeting Sept. 3, where three Longfellow parents spoke out against the removal decision.

The pressure appeared to have an effect: five days after the initial announcement, PUSD reversed course on Sept. 4, saying it would not proceed with the Longfellow removals for now.

The district said it planned to take “a fresh look at the available arborist, environmental, and remediation information before making any further decisions,” a statement that came after sustained protests, a formal board meeting airing parent objections, and continuing scrutiny of the district’s handling of the broader tree-removal program tied to Eaton Fire soil cleanup.

On Friday, the district said the board “has been clear that every reasonable preservation option should be exhausted first,” and that it has and will continue to follow that direction. It said student health and safety remain its highest priority, but that removal of mature and protected trees is an absolute last resort.

“We understand the concern these trees have generated,” the district said. It said it will provide more details and an updated assessment before any additional removal work proceeds.

Longfellow Magnet School is one of 11 Pasadena Unified properties where the district has been removing and replacing soil it says contains fire-related contaminants left by the January 2025 Eaton Fire.

[LA County]

The county pool at 3330 N. Lincoln Ave. is running lap swim, recreational swim, water exercise classes and swim lessons through the end of the month, with free morning lap swim for adults 65 and older and people with disabilities.

The pool at Altadena’s Loma Alta Park will stay open through Sept. 30 under an extended summer season paid for with a one-time grant from Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the county says.

The extended season, which began Aug. 24, includes recreational swimming, lap swim, water exercise classes, swim lessons and other aquatic programs at the pool, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., according to a county bulletin issued Aug. 12 and Barger’s Aug. 6 announcement. Free morning lap swim is offered for adults 65 and older and for people with disabilities. Barger repeated the reminder in her newsletter Friday, Sept. 4, telling residents there was “still time to make a splash before summer ends.”

“Access to safe, affordable recreational opportunities is especially important as our Altadena community continues to recover and rebuild,” Barger said in the announcement. “I was pleased to provide the funding that made this extended pool season possible so children, families, seniors, and residents of all ages can continue enjoying this valuable community resource.”

Last year Barger’s office funded a longer extension that kept the Loma Alta pool open through Oct. 31, 2025, with weekday hours of 8 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. and Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to her office’s Sept. 8, 2025, announcement.

Until recently, 25 of the county’s 30 pools were open only 10 weeks a year. In October 2021 the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for a motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn, co-authored by Barger, to run the county’s pool season for six months, May 1 through Oct. 30, beginning in 2022, with the parks department directed to find ongoing funding and recruit more lifeguards, according to Hahn’s office.

Loma Alta Park Pool, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., Altadena; extended season through Sept. 30. Information: 626-438-8339.

Altadena Music Theatre performs “Little Shop of Horrors” at 8 p.m. Sunday on the temporary outdoor stage the company built at Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Ave. in Altadena.

The performance is the fourth of eight in a run that closes Sept. 13, and it falls on a day forecasters expect a chance of showers. The stage has no roof, and the company has published a policy setting out what a ticket is worth if weather delays or stops a performance.

Performances run Thursdays through Sundays at 8 p.m., on Sept. 3 through 6 and Sept. 10 through 13. Four remain after Sunday.

The National Weather Service zone forecast covering inland Los Angeles County calls for mostly cloudy skies Sunday with a 40 percent chance of showers. The weather service’s Los Angeles and Oxnard office has flagged tropical system Marie in its Labor Day weekend messaging for the region.

The company says the start time may be delayed or a performance interrupted because of inclement weather or other reasons, and that theatre management decides the length of any delay or interruption case by case. If a performance is canceled before one hour of playing time has elapsed, including scheduled intermissions, the ticket serves as a rain check. If the performance is given after a delayed start, or resumes after an interruption, rain checks are not valid and may not be exchanged or refunded.

A rain check may be redeemed for a ticket of the same value at any remaining performance of the same production, for a full refund, or donated back to the company, and must be redeemed by Sept. 13 by email. The company says notice of a delay or cancellation is posted on its social media and at the theatre gates, and emailed to patrons who bought a ticket for that performance directly from the company.

Single tickets start at $40 and are sold through OvationTix, linked from the company’s website. Season passes covering both productions of the season are offered at a 25 percent discount.

The company says the Eaton Fire displaced Altadena Music Theatre from the Charles Farnsworth Amphitheater, and that for 2026 it returned with a temporary outdoor venue at Mountain View Mausoleum featuring custom-built staging and seating. Board members, performers, designers, technicians, volunteers and supporters built the theater. It stands a little more than a mile from where the amphitheater stood, on grounds across Marengo Avenue from Mountain View Cemetery, an Altadena burial ground established in 1882. The amphitheater had been the company’s home since 2022.

“What has emerged is more than a performance venue,” Azcarate said of the volunteer-built theater.

The musical, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, follows Seymour, a florist’s assistant whose life changes after he acquires a plant that craves blood. The score includes “Suddenly Seymour” and “Somewhere That’s Green.” Sarah Azcarate, the company’s founder and producing artistic director, directs, with Chris Wade as music director and Noel Bajandas as choreographer.

Ruby Lewis, who played Sandy in the company’s “Grease” in August, plays Audrey. James Byous plays Seymour, and Lord Kraven plays Audrey II, a 10-foot-tall puppet he voices and accompanies. Robert Manion plays the dentist Orin Scrivello, and Auriaa, Avela Fongoqa, Mueen Jahan and Luz Rodriguez are also featured.

“Audrey has horrible taste in men,” Lewis said of her character. The production looks beyond the comedy to poverty, addiction, abuse, trauma, ambition and loneliness. The company says the show contains strobe lighting effects, theatrical haze, simulated gunfire and depictions of violence.

Andrew Hull designed the set, Michael Mullen the costumes, Rachel Gold the props and Toby Tittle the sound, according to the company’s team listing. Ernest McDaniel is technical director and Bosco Flannigan is lighting designer. Olivia Riddle is production stage manager and Elisa-Belle Tremblay is assistant stage manager. Bouket Fingerhut, who is also production manager, and Brian Justin Crum are associate producers.

Street parking is available around the grounds and through the neighborhood, and parking on Marengo Avenue is permitted for the length of a performance. Patrons may pack a picnic or dinner to eat in the park or at their seat. The company says it tries to partner with local restaurants to serve and sell food before the show but does not always have a vendor available. Its license does not allow attendees to bring their own alcohol, though beer and wine are sold on site to patrons 21 and older, along with snacks, candy and non-alcoholic drinks at a concessions table. Only service animals are permitted inside the theatre itself, and the company asks that everyone in a party, regardless of age, be able to sit quietly through a performance.

Azcarate founded the company in 2020 after moving to Altadena, and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit has since staged “Hair” in 2022, “Cabaret” in 2023, “Guys and Dolls” in 2024 and, last month, a sold-out “Grease” that ran Aug. 6 through 16. It also runs a kids summer camp and an after-school program, and serves local families through youth musical theatre programming, arts education for children and teens, and community productions for adults.

The company says its 2026 summer season is sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery, and that the production is presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International. After Sunday, the season has four performances left, Sept. 10 through 13.

The Pasadena Board of Education spent roughly two hours Thursday night line-editing a draft definition of “district transformation” and adjourned with school consolidation written in among the options, a running list of “points of contention,” no vote on the final wording of the definition and no date for one.

The special meeting, held under the banner of a ‘Committee of the Whole,’ was the board’s first completed pass at the draft, which had been scheduled for Aug. 31 before that session was halted over a notice-posting lapse.

Thursday night, Vice President Dr. Yarma Velázquez chaired; Board President Tina Fredericks and Trustee Michelle Richardson Bailey took part remotely.

Velázquez said the board would consider approval of the draft at its next meeting.

Asked by a student board member whether there was a deadline beyond Thursday for adding language, facilitator Natalia Guerra of Collaborate PASadena said, “Not that I’m aware of,” and asked when the board would return to the document. No one gave a date.

Guerra said she “single-handedly” synthesized the draft from the board’s Aug. 13 session, using some of the language Velázquez had drafted then. She said she, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco, Fredericks and and a staff member who managed the working document, met last week to reflect on that session.

Fredericks, otherwise nearly silent on the record, made one substantive edit — a bullet at the end of the section on what the board would vote on by the end of the process: “Consolidate schools and/or establish a new school configuration to more closely align enrollment projections as an option to achieve the goals contained in this definition.”

Bailey, remote because of illness, later asked about “one of the points added by Trustee Fredericks on consolidation.” Guerra said it was “at the bottom” and that she thought Fredericks had added it, but did not read it back in her final pass; its status was unclear at adjournment.

Montoya said she would post a PDF of the document with all comments.

Consolidation stayed in three other places: Velázquez’s process language on “program realignment, co-location, consolidation, expansion and other changes,” read back without objection; the original bullet to “determine how to utilize closed campuses for revenue”; and the “considering alternatives to school consolidation” and “analyzing the impact of inaction” bullets, moved at Trustee Kimberly Kenne’s suggestion from the vote list into the process section as a “process to review and evaluate all options.”

A separate Velázquez bullet to “evaluate the educational, financial, and operational impacts of consolidation, alternatives to consolidation and maintaining the status quo” was struck as duplicative at Trustee Patrice Marshall McKenzie’s suggestion, with Velázquez’s assent.

The board also dropped a proposed reference to Assembly Bill 1912 while keeping consolidation.

Trustees also struck, for now, Trustee Scott Harden’s phrase “in the face of declining enrollment and unpredictable public funding,” which Marshall McKenzie called “a very narrow frame,” dropped the “five to 10 years” horizon and swapped “sustainable” for her “healthy and viable.”

Trustee Jennifer Hall Lee said she would not “be pushed anymore by four people on this board.”

In the meeting’s final minutes, Blanco said the process “is outlined in a resolution that the majority of the board passed” and could work alongside the board’s academic goals, which she said run through 2030.

The draft grew out of Resolution 2894, adopted June 25 over ‘no’ votes from Hall Lee, Marshall McKenzie and Bailey, and the Aug. 13 workshop.