Parents hold signs demanding the resignation of board members at the PUSD Board of Education Special Meeting, May 14, 2026 (Photo – Special to Colorado Boulevard Newspaper)
The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education held a special meeting Thursday, May 14. A public comment session was followed by a closed session with an agenda to consider what legal counsel described as “significant exposure to litigation” tied to allegations of serial meetings in violation of the Brown Act.
By Rena Kurlander
The allegations stem from records recently released through public records requests. According to speakers at the meeting, the records show that Board President Tina Fredericks and Trustees Scott Harden, Kim Kenne, and Yarma Velazquez were involved in undisclosed communications concerning outside consultant Total School Solutions (TSS). The records further allege that three of the four trustees privately met with TSS without informing Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco. The records also allegedly reveal private deliberations concerning a resolution to initiate a school consolidation process, as well as undisclosed relationships connected to a $233,000 contract awarded to TSS.
During public comment, multiple speakers sharply criticized the four board members and called for their resignations.
Sierra Madre Mayor Kristine “Kris” Lowe called for Tina Fredericks to resign immediately, while publicly shaming Harden, Kenne, and Velazquez for what she described as serious misconduct. Lowe accused all four board members of violating California Government Code, characterizing their alleged actions as “illegal coordination,” “an abuse of public trust,” and “a direct assault on transparent government.”
Addressing Fredericks directly, Lowe referenced her uncle, Albert Lowe, who previously served on the PUSD Board.
“He upheld the integrity of this District,” Lowe said. “You have brought embarrassment on this community.” She concluded by asking Fredericks to “do the right thing for once and resign.”
PTA Council President Lisa Kroese also demanded the resignation of the four PUSD Board members, saying they should “let others do this work.” Kroese called for rebuilding trust within PUSD and said effective leadership requires listening to the community.
“First you lied to us, now you’re lying to yourself,” Kroese said.
PUSD parent Tarah Kennedy warned that “the broader Pasadena community is paying attention now,” and she said “the damage to public trust is real.” Kennedy also called for the immediate resignation of Fredericks, Harden, Kenne, and Velazquez, adding that “this community is watching.”
Student speaker Lando Marchese, an eighth grader at Thurgood Marshall Secondary School, accused the four Board members of modeling behavior students are taught to avoid.
“You are teaching students lessons the District does not want us to learn,” Marchese said. He added that students view the four Board members as “dishonest, defensive, and disconnected from the community they serve.”
Emily Stough, speaking on behalf of members of the Blair High School community, called for an immediate halt to the school consolidation process. Instead, she urged PUSD to focus on developing a clear vision that benefits students.
The final speaker, PUSD parent and former Sierra Madre Elementary Annual Fund Chair Dawn Denison, accused the four Board members of betraying the community’s trust through “straight up lies.”
“You four have broken our trust,” Denison said, arguing that the Board members had violated the same standards of conduct expected of students.
Denison also criticized Fredericks personally, alleging that Fredericks ignored repeated requests to meet while publicly portraying the consolidation process as open and data-driven despite privately developing a school closure plan and meeting with TSS consultants.
“Disgusting,” Denison said of Fredericks’ alleged actions, accusing Fredericks of prioritizing political ambitions over students.
Following public comment, the Board adjourned into closed session with legal counsel. No reportable action was announced afterward.
PUSD Board of Education Special Meeting, May 14, 2026 (Photo – Special to Colorado Boulevard Newspaper)
This story is developing. Stay with our daily online edition for ongoing reporting.
School consolidations still need to happen. The district can’t just keep cutting more and more teachers every year to keep the doors open in half empty schools.
5 schools burned in the fires and are consolidated already. This proposal is not gonna stop layoffs – it accelerates them. They want to close Don Benito and leave it leased to a charter school with less than 200 kids enrolled. This is why we have closed schools in 4 rounds and the enrollment keeps going down. Charter school advocates win when we close district schools, not teachers and not PUSD students. 2019 we closed Wilson, now a charter school has their 8 by 16 foot banner up with their enrollment ad.
You’re being lied to.
If they’re smart and if they really cared about putting students first – they will just resign and stop wasting PUSD’s money and time trying to defend their improper and corrupt actions.
After asking taxpayers for bond money to fix our schools they used it instead on a sham process to try to justify handing our community schools over to real estate developers.
$233,000 wasted on the consultants and now how much are the legal costs going to be?
Resign immediately! Protect our children!