Pasadena Unified’s Insolvency: What happens on Hudson Street stays on Hudson Street

By Sierra Madre Tattler

You might be wondering where your PUSD Board of Education seat occupant has been hanging out lately. Especially after you’ve read certain opinions recently issued by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Which, as you might or might not know, exercises life and death control over the public schools of Sierra Madre, Pasadena and Altadena.

So what did these folks have to say about our beloved Pasadena Unified School District? That it is “in immediate risk of becoming insolvent.” Insolvent being one of those financial euphemisms that means “going out of business.” How did such a thing happen, you might ask? Let me tell you what I think.

“Spending has so exceeded plans.” That is how LA County put it. I think it’s the nicest possible way of saying PUSD admins have been doing things like shoveling your kids’ education funds to the district employee unions that funded the winning election campaigns of certain Board of Education candidates.

Near-legendary educators and current Board members such as Larry Torres, Pat Cahalan and Roy Boulghourjian somehow come to mind. No cuts, no financial restraint, they just quietly ran the place into the ground while keeping their various district union campaign donors fat and happy.

If you are unfamiliar with the term “stay and rescind authority,” (another term LA County’s education solons used), it means that either Los Angeles County or even Sacramento itself could soon take control of the PUSD, neuter the Board of Ed and its nitwit administrative staff, and run the place themselves.

So where exactly are Cahalan, Torres and Big B on all this? You’d think the prospect of the PUSD rapidly careening into a state of financial collapse would cause them to saddle up their unicorns and warn the good people of our school district that their kids might not have a place to go to soon. Right?

No, they didn’t say a word. I personally got in touch with the City Manager of Sierra Madre, and he knew nothing about this. Sierra Madre’s PUSD Board of Ed rep, “Low Energy” Larry Torres, apparently has yet to utter a syllable outside of Board Chambers. To anyone. Maybe they’re ashamed of themselves? Or they don’t think you deserve to know?

My guess is Larry, Pat and Roy, along with the rest of the PUSD Board of Ed, are patiently waiting for someone in Sacramento to step in and bail them out. I’m sure the part about a state requirement to issue more bonds probably appeals to them in some special way. I bet they’re already filling out the paperwork.

But what if the state doesn’t go there? Rather they decide to just fold the entire mess into the LAUSD? That would make sense. Why pay millions of extra dollars in Hudson Street administrative salaries and pensions when you don’t need to? Why sustain so destructive a Board of Education? Just fire the whole rotten bunch for rank incompetence and use the money to do something radical.

Like maybe buy the kids some school books?

The Sierra Madre Tattler is a daily news blog. sierramadretattler.blogspot.com

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