PASADENA, Calif. - August 27, 2026 - The Committee to Protect PUSD Schools, Recall Fredericks and Harden today announced that former Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Brian McDonald, Ed.D. and Michael Leon, Business Representative of Teamsters Local 986, will serve as campaign co-chairs for the effort to recall PUSD Board President Tina Wu Fredericks and Trustee Scott Harden from the PUSD Board of Education.
The campaign brings together two leaders with deep, first-hand experience inside PUSD: Dr. McDonald, who served as PUSD Superintendent from 2014 through 2023 and is also a PUSD parent, and Leon, who represents more than 250 local PUSD employees through Teamsters Local 986.
“Education is for all of us,” said Michael Leon, Business Representative of Teamsters Local 986. “Closing schools means local families lose jobs. These are not just buildings on a map. They are workplaces for teachers, classified employees, custodians, food-service workers, bus drivers, and many other members of our community. When a school closes, the impact reaches far beyond the students who attend it. It affects working families and the economic health of our entire community.”
Leon continued, “The people who work in PUSD every day care deeply about our students and our schools. We need board leadership that recognizes the value of its employees and understands that strong public schools are an investment in the entire Pasadena community.”
“This recall is about protecting the future of our communities’ public schools and making sure that families, educators, employees, and the broader community have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect our children,” said Dr. McDonald. “PUSD is facing consequential decisions about schools, students, staffing, and resources. Those decisions require transparency, sound judgment, and genuine engagement with the community. I am joining this effort because I believe PUSD deserves leadership that brings people together around a strong public-school system.”
The campaign said the addition of McDonald and Leon reflects the breadth of the coalition supporting the recall effort.
“Having Dr. McDonald and Michael as our campaign co-chairs sends an important message,” said Sara Poggi, a Committee representative. “This is not simply a disagreement among a handful of parents. Our coalition includes parents, former district leadership, school employees, and community members. We are united by a simple goal: protecting the public schools in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre and restoring trust in PUSD Board of Education leadership.”
The committee emphasized that the recall is focused on accountability and the future of the district, not on any individual school, employee group, or political party.
“Parents should not have to choose between accepting the Board’s direction and leaving PUSD,” Poggi said. “We believe families deserve strong schools, responsible stewardship of public resources, transparent decision-making, and leadership that listens before making decisions that affect thousands of students.”
The recall campaign points to what it describes as serious concerns about transparency and compliance with California’s Brown Act, California’s open-meeting law.
Public-records requests submitted by community members produced communications that, according to the committee, show serial communications involving four PUSD trustees concerning matters that were or would become significant Board business.
The campaign contends that the records raise questions about whether trustees were discussing and developing positions on substantive Board matters outside properly noticed public meetings. The committee also says the records raise questions about communications surrounding the district’s emerging consolidation plans and the process by which Total School Solutions was selected for a $233,000 contract.
“These records matter because they go directly to trust,” said Poggi. “Parents, students, and employees were being asked to accept major decisions about the future of their schools while communications among trustees were taking place outside the public view. Whether you support or oppose consolidation, everyone should agree that the process needs to be transparent, lawful, and accountable.”
“Trustees Fredericks and Harden also continue to ignore the voices of the PUSD Student Assembly, the findings of the Superintendent’s Consolidation Committee, and the voices of their own constituents,” said Poggi. “When our elected leaders fail to listen, we have the right to determine whether they should continue to represent us.”
The Committee to Protect PUSD Schools recall effort seeks to give voters in Trustee Areas 4 and 6 an opportunity to determine whether Harden and Fredericks should continue to serve on the PUSD Board of Education.
The campaign is currently filing paperwork to be recognized as a ballot measure committee, organizing volunteers, and gathering signatures from registered voters in Trustee Areas 4 and 6 in support of the recall.
About the Committee to Protect PUSD Schools, Recall Fredericks and Harden
The Committee to Protect PUSD Schools, Recall Fredericks and Harden is a community-led campaign of parents, PUSD supporters, employees, and residents advocating for strong neighborhood public schools, accountable leadership, transparent decision-making, and a meaningful voice for the Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre communities in the future of Pasadena Unified School District.