Ruelas/Roosevelt Drama Continues at Pasadena Unified Board of Education Meeting

Nearly a year and a half after his appointment to Madison Elementary School by Superintendent Brian McDonald, the record and alleged actions of Principal Juan Ruelas continue to dominate the public comment section of the monthly Pasadena Unified School (PUSD) board meetings.

Thursday evening’s meeting was no exception, as a host of speakers appeared before the dais to denounce Ruelas’ leadership at the predominantly Hispanic-American and immigrant campus.

Attorney Dale Gronemeier, Attorney for the Community Committee for Equality and Justice at Madison (CCEJAM), a parents’ group opposed to Ruelas, again referred to his 41-page “White Paper” distributed to Board members last month. Gronemeier’s report alleges test score cheating occurred at Roosevelt Elementary School in 2011, under Ruelas’ leadership.

Responding to the accusations at the time, PUSD Associate Superintendent Mercy Santoro said in a statement, “Concerning the matter of the 2011 Standardized Testing Irregularities reported at Roosevelt Elementary School, the issue was investigated by the District’s Human Resources and Technology staff, and was reported to the California Department of Education (CDE).”

Gronemeier’s “White Paper” was referenced by a number of speakers at last night’s meeting, including speaker Joseph Bautista who led slowly to his criticism of Ruelas, discussing first a movie in which the lead character, in a hypnotic state, continues to see the ghost of a dead young girl, a resident of his small town. Confused at first, in time he realizes that she will continue to appear and haunt him until her soul is “washed clean.”

“And this ghost is the cheating matter at Roosevelt Elementary School,” said Bautista. “Let the records of this incident in 2001 be released.”

“You tried to say that this documented cheating at Roosevelt under Ruelas was a long time ago,” said retired PUSD teacher Julie McKuen, directing her comments to Board member Adrienne Mullen. “and unfortunately (Superintendent McDonald) tried to use this as a reason to bring Ruelas to Madison to improve test scores by any means possible, even cheating, because he wants to look good, boasting about the numbers under the McDonald administration.”

“The trust has been broken,” said McKuen. “I think we need an interim principal now. How many more teachers will have to leave Madison before you admit that the principal’s lack of leadership in academics is not meeting the needs of the individual students?”