Simmering Controversies Erupt at Pasadena Unified Board Meeting Thursday Night

With negotiations at an impasse since March, United Teachers of Pasadena (UTP) once again brought their complaints to the Pasadena Unified School District Board monthly meeting Thursday.

Members of California School Employees Association, Teamsters Local 911, and the Association of Pasadena School Administrators were also present at the meeting.

Scores of red-shirted teachers and administrators noisily filled the halls of the PUSD building with shouts of “Good to Great….Compensate!”

Contract negotiations for the upcoming school year should have already begun, said UTP President Alvin Nash, but they cannot because the current contract which should have been completed months ago, is still being negotiated.

“In June,”said Nash, “the district adopted its budget for 2015-2016 with more than $10 million undesignated. This is more than sufficient to provide a 6 percent salary increase effective January 2016. Both UTP and the District agree that we should begin negotiating salaries and heath benefits for 2016-17, no later than January 31, but we will be unable to do that if we cannot settle the salary issues of last year and this year.”

Because the complaints were heard in the public comments section of the board’s regular monthly meeting, board members were unable to respond publicly to the complaints at hand. According to the agenda, the Board also met with UTP labor negotiator Bonifacio Garcia in closed session prior to the public meeting. Results of that meeting were not available as of this article’s writing.

The board also continued to hear complaints regarding Madison Elementary School Principal Juan Ruelas, who was appointed to the position in May by Board Superintendent Brian McDonald. Since Ruelas’s tenure began, 11 teachers reportedly have involuntarily or voluntarily transferred to other campuses within the district. Four left in August and five more left during the first weeks of the school year, according to statements.

First-grade teacher Patricia Guzman, a 27-year veteran of the school district, was reportedly forced to transfer out of Madison by Ruelas in September, when he allegedly accused her of mishandling a student. In a later incident, Ruelas also had Guzman removed from campus by police when she demanded to see a union representative prior to a meeting with Ruelas, according to speakers at the meeting.

Teachers have complained that Ruelas has “changed the atmosphere of the school” and “created a hostile environment” for both teachers and students. Since his arrival, Ruelas, who came highly regarded by Superintendent McDonald after raising test scores at Roosevelt Elementary, has reportedly changed every aspect of the school day at Madison, from classroom arrangements to lunch schedules and menus.

Teachers and parents have called for Guzman’s re-instatement and Ruela’s removal since early September.