Pasadena School Board Holds Special Meeting Tonight

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education meets in special session Thursday night to consider certifying 2025-26 unaudited financial results and requesting a waiver from a state classroom-spending requirement the district missed.

The district spent 50.52% of its current expense of education on classroom compensation in 2025-26, 4.48 percentage points below the 55% minimum California Education Code Section 41372 sets for unified districts, Chief Business Officer Arik Avanesyans reported. The shortfall — 4.48% of that $254.5 million current expense — totals $11.4 million, the waiver application shows.

Staff cited mainly increased spending on fire-related supplies and contracted services, one-time state funds and special education non-public agency costs. The district paid $15.9 million in fire-related expenses and $3 million from one-time funds for supplies and contracted services. Without those costs, the percentage would be at 55%, the report states. Staff also wrote that some state and federal funds could not be excluded from the calculation because they included instructional staff costs, although most of those expenditures were non-instructional salaries.

Citing School Services of California data, staff wrote that a significant percentage of districts have not met the minimums, including 31.3% of unified districts in 2024-25. Staff pointed to changes in how dollars are allocated and an influx of one-time funding.

The application to the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which board President Tina Fredericks would certify, cites serious hardship. If the request is denied, partly approved or not filed, the county must set aside the unexempted amount, which the district cannot spend, and order it added to classroom teacher salaries the next fiscal year.

The board first will hear a presentation on the unaudited actuals, which show general fund revenues of $315 million and expenditures of $342.2 million. The fund separately recorded $164.7 million in insurance revenue, and its balance rose from $148 million to $284 million. Expenditures came in $52.1 million below the district’s estimated actuals, including $38.5 million less for contracted services. Excluding fire-related revenue and spending, the unrestricted general fund ended at $37.7 million, down $3.6 million.

Trustees also will consider Resolution No. 2904, which would set revised 2025-26 and estimated 2026-27 GANN appropriation limits. They will also consider Resolution No. 2905, which would designate district representatives to seek federal and state disaster assistance and facilitate eligible reimbursement payments.

A proposed memorandum of understanding with the city of Pasadena would give the district exclusive use of the Allendale Park baseball field, 1130 S. Marengo Ave., during school hours in the academic year. Those hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The arrangement would last while the district uses Allendale School as a campus. The city would maintain the field, and either side could end the agreement on 90 days’ written notice.

The district would add a door to the right-field fence for access and would need the city’s written approval before adding fencing or other improvements. The two agencies would be mutually self-insured, with no additional coverage required, and staff anticipates no ongoing fiscal impact to the district. The memorandum would amend the city and district’s joint-use agreement, City Agreement No. 13,991.

In closed session, the board will confer with counsel on two existing lawsuits, Case No. 26STCP01644 and Pasadena Unified School District v. City of Pasadena, Case No. 26STCP02735. The board will then publicly announce any actions taken.

The meeting opens about 7 p.m. in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, Room 236, 351 S. Hudson Ave., with public comment on closed-session items. The board then recesses about 7:10 p.m. and returns from closed session about 8 p.m. Speakers on agenda items may talk for up to three minutes, which the board may cut to one or two minutes if comments would exceed 30 minutes.

The district broadcasts regular meetings live on Charter Cable Channel 95 and at http://live.boardmeetings.info. The agenda is at https://www.boardmeetings.info. Written comments may be sent to publiccomment@pusd.us, marked “Public Comment.” They will not be read aloud but will become part of the archived agenda documents.