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PUSD DISTRICT 6 RACE AND MOREPUSD DISTRICT 6 RACE AND MORE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 12, 2024

YES ON MEASURE R + MEASURE EE MEANS YES 
TO GREENER COOLER PUSD SCHOOLS

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

By Tina Wu Fredericks, PUSD District 6 
Representative

I humbly ask for your vote YES on Measure R 
and Measure EE to prioritize our public schools 
this November 2024. Investing in today’s 
children means many generations return on 
investment. This month we witnessed the death 
and devastation of families and communities 
caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane 
Milton throughout our nation’s southern states, 
underscoring the importance of preparing 
for the extreme weather conditions caused by 
climate change. 

At the other extreme, our communities in 
southern California have experienced record 
high temperatures, longer and dryer summers in 
recent years. Extreme heat creates increasingly 
hazardous conditions in outdoor areas and 
structures where the 14,000 students of our 
district learn and play. Even the California 
legislature is taking the extreme heat conditions 
seriously. On October 1, 2024, California passed 
Senate Bill 1248, a bill requiring local schools 
to implement protocols for extreme weather 
situations. The bill was nicknamed Yahushua’s 
Law, in honor of the 12-year-old boy who died 
during P.E. during a summer 2023 heatwave. 
Unfortunately, weather protocols which 
typically means keeping students inside creates 
other problems and challenges. Firstly, not all of 
our facilities have air-conditioning systems or 
they need upgrading, so keeping students inside 
on an extremely hot day may not be feasible for 
some schools and students would need to be 
sent home, losing instructional time. Keeping 
students indoors is not a long-term solution 
as we already know the detrimental effects on 
the mental health of children (and adults) of 
quarantine during the height of the COVID 
pandemic. Especially our young learners, they 
need to learn by playing and staying active. 

The simple answer is to make our school’s 
outdoor spaces cooler. The temperature of 
today’s playgrounds are not like what we grew 
up with in elementary school. For example, on 
a 91 degree day this year, the asphalt measured 
157 degrees without shade and 119 degrees with 
shade, and a plastic slide measured 166 degrees, 
while the grass under an oak tree measured 82 
degrees. According to the California Schoolyard 
Tree Canopy Equity study of 2023, PUSD school 
sites tree canopy coverage ranges between 8% 
and 15%, well below the 30% recommended by 
urban forestry experts. This is why I introduced 
this week at the PUSD Facilities Committee 
meeting, the Resolution to Increase Tree Canopy 
Levels and Reduce Asphalt in Outdoor Areas of 
Pasadena Unified School District in order to 
Enhance Student Learning Environment and 
Safety.

Our buildings are between fifty and one 
hundred years old – in some cases, it’s beyond 
repair simply because they no longer make the 
parts. This is why with Measure O funds of 
2020, the district chose to modernize rather 
than simply repair some schools as that would 
be a more efficient use of tax payer dollars to 
invest in construction that lasts. In November 
2023, the Board approved a 5 Year Bond 
Program, which has a construction timeline for 
schools and the cost of each project. The plan 
includes modernizing 7 elementary, middle, 
and high schools across the district, each school 
costing between $21 million and $63 million. 
Additionally, many schools have and will 
receive wet utility repair, electrical service, new 
restrooms, accessibility/walkway repair, field 
reconditioning, and HVAC repair and upgrades. 
The total cost of the 5 Year Bond Program Plan 
is about $470M. We would save $124M in state 
matching funds if State Measure 2 passes (so 
please VOTE YES on Measure 2) 

You can find the 5 Year Bond Program at pusd.
us/departments/measure-o/master-plan

Additional projects beyond the $470 million 
include district wide security lock replacement 
so that teachers can easily lock doors from the 
inside in an emergency situation, as well as 
security cameras and secure front entry way at 
each school. An additional $40 million budget is 
reserved specifically for urgent health and safety 
projects including HVAC, fire alarm systems, 
structural building integrity, accessibility 
(elevators and ramps), window replacement, 
roofing, asphalt repair/reduction, lighting, 
classroom repairs. I’m happy to report that Sierra 
Madre Elementary successfully upgraded their 
electrical system and HVAC modernization 
this summer. For more detail on the current 
status and expenditure of construction projects, 
please go to PUSD Facilities & Capital Projects 
Committee website for the agenda containing 
the most recent Construction Project Status 
Reports. In summary, while $140 million in 
bonds have been issued and $84 million has 
been spent to date, the remaining balance of the 
$516 million of Measure O has been earmarked 
according to the 5 Year Bond Program plan.



PUSD’s Measure R is a unique bond that a 
local community group called PUSD Green 
Schoolyard Coalition helped to craft. In 
addition the traditional upgrades, this bond 
includes outdoor greening projects. Founded by 
a few Sierra Madre Elementary school parents, 
this group successfully convinced the district 
to include student-accessible green space as an 
allowable use of Measure R funds, for example, 
asphalt removal, stormwater retention systems, 
bioswales, heat-mitigating surfaces, shade trees, 
facilities infrastructure to support carbon-free 
energy sources and waste management systems, 
composting, pedestrian and bicycle paths, 
electric bicycle stations and parking. 

While Measure R funds building improvements, 
PUSD’s Measure EE will help to fund the 
competitive salaries our teachers and staff 
deserve. Some of our teachers work multiple jobs 
and often pay for classroom supplies out of their 
own pocket. They deserve to be fully supported 
for the quality instruction they provide for our 
students. Given that 80% of our public school 
funding comes from the state and the state 
budget is only giving a 1.07% cost of living 
adjustment this year, our district will need to 
make up the difference to keep our quality 
teachers and staff. 

There are many choices on this November ballot. 
This is an opportunity to invest in the 14,000 
students of Pasadena Unified School District, 
our emerging leaders for our community. I 
humbly ask for your YES vote on Measure R, 
Measure EE, and Measure 2. 

Editor's Note: The entire City of Sierra Madre 
is in District 6 of the Pasadena Unified School 
District.. 

On Wednesday, October 9, at the PUSD School Board candidate forum for District 6 at 
Sierra Madre Town Hall, I watched in frustration as the incumbent evaded public questions, 
misrepresented her record, and avoided accountability. 

Sierra Madre constituents in attendance said Ms. Fredericks had not been keeping the 
community informed, for example, with the passage of the current PUSD ballot measures. 
Ms. Fredericks placed the blame on the consultants who conducted the survey, claiming she 
relied on their survey results to determine public support of the measures. She also said 
she did not have enough time to inform the public because the resolution had just recently
passed.

However, the survey only reflected the input of 406 “likely voters” district-wide. At the 
August 17, 2023 PUSD Board meeting, consultants presented the timeline, and at the 
February 29, 2024 PUSD Board meeting, Ms. Fredericks voted to move forward with the 
measures. Her answers stating she didn’t have enough time to inform the public nor gather 
feedback in the area she serves were disingenuous. 

The reality is that instead of keeping the public informed, Ms. Fredericks spent her time 
volunteering for other political candidates, as well as traveling to DC and Sacramento to 
meet with Congressional and State officials. Her re-election campaign was rewarded with 
big-name endorsements while we were left in the dark (plus PUSD paid for these trips to DC 
and Sacramento). 

The discussion then shifted to questions on the current $516 million Measure O bond 
allocation, Ms. Fredericks suggested that there were hundreds of millions of dollars that the 
Board could still reallocate. In reality, although the bond has not been drawn down yet, those 
funds are dedicated to specific projects over the next 5 years.

Ms. Fredericks pointed out that she advocated for a study session on health and safety 
projects for all PUSD schools. Parents who were at the meetings, like myself, know this was 
just grandstanding after finding out that she had a School Board challenger. This study 
session she requested failed to capture any other Board votes because the Board had already 
voted (6-1 with Ms. Fredericks in favor on Sept 7, 2023) to spend most of the bond money 
to prioritize three schools (Longfellow, Madison, and Muir) and to allocate just $40 million 
for the fire, life, and safety and other necessities for other schools. Ms. Fredericks voted to 
prioritize modernizations based on a heat map of where most students live (which is not 
in District 6) instead of spreading the money to the schools that objectively need the most 
urgent infrastructure repairs. 

There was an estimated $400 million in assessed needs and we had a $516 million bond. 
Fredericks did not initially support ending facility disparity but has misled the public to 
think she has. In fact, in her op-ed in Pasadena Now on Sept 27, 2023, Ms. Fredericks 
advocated for closing more of our schools instead of repairing the schools where children 
attend. 

Ms. Fredericks attests she plans to “do better” if re-elected. She continues to evade the public 
with her ability to blame others, without taking any accountability for her actions. 

The time for change is now. If the challenger, Lisa Kroese, wins on November 5th, I know we 
will get clear information, a chance to be involved in the decision process and a leader who is 
able to gather information and share it with both constituents and the Board. 

My vote is for Lisa Kroese and I hope yours is too. Tarah Kennedy

Tarah Kennedy is a District 6 voter, and a parent of two PUSD children.

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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com