said in a statement.

But she tempered her statement with the reality of the district’s troubled financial woes.

“However, we also face the reality that without cuts, we would face an even more severe fiscal situation next year — one that would likely result in even larger reductions and a far greater disruption to our educational programs.”

Last month, the board approved cutting 150 full-time positions due to financial struggles.

District officials said unless the financial situation changes, more cuts will be needed. They said the current situation is due to declining enrollment, expiration of COVID-19 relief funds and rising costs.

On Thursday, members of the United Teachers of Pasadena, parents and community members once again rallied outside the district office.

They called on the district to rescind the layoff notices that have been sent.

Union members, clad in red shirts, wielded signs and fanned out across the district office parking lot as speakers set up at the entrance on Hudson Avenue blasted “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

Teacher and UTP organizer Jennifer Boynton led the group in chants on the steps of the district office entrance that included, “We take note the way you vote!”

More than 100 protesters took to both sides of Del Mar Avenue holding signs, blowing whistles and drawing honks from passing cars. After more than an hour outside, the protest made its way into the district building, where the group marched up and down the hallway outside the board meeting room.

“The district did not have our back,” UTP President Jonathan Gardner said. “The district did not have our students or our schools’ backs.”

More than 20 people, from students to laid-off teachers and concerned parents, spoke passionately about the impact of the cuts and called on leaders to find another way.

“What you do here will send signals all over the area that it is OK to riff our most essential workers. If you can get away with it with fire survivors, then they’ll think that they can get away with it anywhere,” Los Angeles Unified School District teacher William Shattuc said. “It is not just Pasadena teachers who have their eyes on what you do tonight.”

After the board allotted one minute to each speaker due to the number of public comment cards, several times, speakers continued speaking after the one minute, causing Board President Jennifer Hall Lee to cut speakers off and fellow attendees urging the speaker to keep talking.

“I do applaud the recent creation of TOSA positions, but now you need to dig deep, think creatively and restore the teaching positions you cut,” Norma Coombs Elementary School 2nd grade teacher Barbara Ishida said. “Teachers are the heart of education. Restore teaching positions today.”

Ishida lost her home in the fire and received a layoff notice.

Status of school site

The district’s governing board received a presentation about the future school sites for students displaced by the Eaton fire.

Parents from Altadena Arts Magnet offered a resolution that called for students to return to their campus only after the area within 250 yards of the campus has completed Phase 2 of the debris removal.

Students are currently attending the Allendale campus due to remediation needed at Altadena Arts Magnet and the school being surrounded by burned-down structures.

According to the district, remediation has been completed at Altadena Arts Magnet, and the site is ready for the 2025/ 26 school year.

Several parents from Altadena Arts Magnet urged the board to pass the resolution and to do further tests at the site for lead and asbestos. Some said they would disenroll from PUSD if they were not given clear answers about where students would be placed going into the next school year.

In a 4-3 vote that followed a contentious back-and-forth between trustees, the board approved an amended resolution that said Altadena Arts Magnet would be granted continued placement at Allendale until Jan. 1, 2026.

The remainder of the initial resolution was removed by amendments from the board.

Hall Lee and Trustees Michelle Richardson Bailey and Patrice Marshall McKenzie voted no, citing concerns over the process by which the resolution was changed and approved.

“This is no way to write policy. We are policymakers,” Bailey said. “We are policymakers. That right there is embarrassing.”

The meeting started at 4 p.m. and was being streamed on YouTube.