Pasadena School Board Faces Mounting Pressure Over Teacher Cuts

Hundreds of teachers and community members rallied outside Pasadena Unified School District headquarters to protest planned layoffs of 120 teachers, a move the demonstrators say will further devastate a community still struggling to recover from the Eaton Fire.

The March 27 protest, organized by United Teachers Pasadena (UTP), coincided with a regularly scheduled Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education meeting and drew television and radio media outlets as protesters lined both sides of Del Mar Avenue holding signs, blowing whistles and chanting slogans.

“We’re here at the Board meeting to voice our opposition to the cuts,” said UTP President Jonathan Gardner. “We believe it’s already harming our schools. We can see the drop in morale and all the different impacts this is already having.”

The layoffs are part of Pasadena Unified School District’s response to a $37 million budget deficit, exacerbated by declining enrollment and the expiration of COVID relief funds, according to District officials who maintained the cuts are necessary for financial stability.

Gardner said the layoffs are particularly devastating in the wake of the Eaton Fire.

“I’m aware of at least 13 teachers who lost their homes and also received layoff notices,” he said. “It’s a completely irresponsible choice, and it is causing devastation.”

The fire displaced many community members, including 87 teachers, with a total of 120 Pasadena Unified School District employees losing their homes as reported earlier this year.

During the Board meeting, more than 20 speakers, including laid-off teachers and parents, addressed the Board. Barbara Ishida, a second-grade teacher at Norma Coombs Elementary, spoke at the meeting, sharing her experience of losing her home in the fire and then receiving a layoff notice, highlighting the dual impact on educators.

Anne Stuart, a teacher at San Rafael Elementary, expressed frustration about recurring annual layoffs.

“This keeps happening every year. We work hard, and lots of families and teachers lost their homes,” Stuart said. “We were told we’d be supported through this process, but they’re not supporting us by laying off that many people.”

The layoffs are part of a broader trend in California, with over 2,000 educators receiving preliminary notices statewide. For Pasadena Unified School District, the decision was formalized on February 27, 2025, when the Board approved cuts to 150 positions, including 120 teacher positions.

Protesters marched through the District building hallways after rallying for over an hour. UTP organizer Jennifer Boynton led demonstrators in chants including “We take note the way you vote!”

Gardner noted that while the District has restored some positions, it isn’t sufficient.

“We need that little bit of a trickle to turn into a flood,” he said. “We need all of our teachers back as soon as possible.”

Pasadena Unified School District has not publicly commented on whether more layoff notices will be rescinded.

“Our students are ultimately, in many cases, losing their favorite teacher, losing one of those stable sources of support,” Gardner warned. “We can only imagine the further devastation as time goes on.”