As the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) moves toward a November 20 deadline to identify deep budget cuts, the district’s two largest unions say they are preparing for tough, uncertain talks — and hoping to protect both jobs and the identity of local schools.
Jonathan Gardner, president of United Teachers Pasadena, said his members have yet to receive any concrete proposals from the district.
“We haven’t been asked to be flexible,” he said. “There have been zero proposals that have come our way.”
Still, Gardner said the union remains open to discussion.
“We would consider everything in its time,” he added. “But without a clean, clear proposal that we can agree to, we would never want to speed the process up just for some arbitrary cutoff.”
The looming decisions could reshape the district. Teachers worry that limiting cuts to central administration could shift the financial burden to individual school sites, eroding student programs and community identity.
“We’re looking at students experiencing the instability of losing their favorite teacher — or schools not at all looking like what they did last year,” Gardner said. “Schools losing their schools, their identity. That’s part of why I’m concerned about the distinction between central cuts and site cuts.”
While teachers weigh classroom impacts, the district’s classified employees — the custodians, grounds crews, electricians, and food service workers who keep schools running — are looking for creative ways to help the district save money without layoffs.
Michael Leon, of Teamsters Local 986, which represents half of PUSD’s classified workforce, said his members are “trying to be a little more progressive.”
The union has proposed “contracting in” — using existing, highly skilled district tradespeople for repairs and upgrades that would otherwise go to outside vendors.
“Some of these women and gentlemen can do this work with a little more resources,” Leon said. “It would actually save the district money instead of contracting out.”
Leon said his members are journeyman tradespeople — electricians, plumbers, painters, and HVAC technicians — capable of performing most work in-house.
“A win,” he said, “would be that nobody loses their jobs.”
As the district faces mounting financial deadlines, that may be the one goal all sides can agree on.
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