Parents, MALDEF sue Pasadena Unified for 2019 school closures, alleging discrimination

The parents of seven Latino elementary school students are suing the Pasadena Unified School District for discrimination after the district’s 2019 closure of three elementary schools with a large Latino enrollment, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Acting on behalf of the parents, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Latino civil rights organization, alleged in the suit that by closing Roosevelt, Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools, the district harmed students and violated their right to an education, guaranteed by the state’s constitution, according to a MALDEF statement released Wednesday.

Some of the children who were relocated lost access to learning and special education programs at their previous schools, the lawsuit alleges. Some parents said their children’s transfer caused difficulties in transportation, and congestion at pickup and drop-off points due to the influx of students and changes to their work schedules. Several students suffered emotional distress, including severe depression, and sought therapy after the transfers, according to the lawsuit.

“PUSD failed to take into account basic racial equity when it decided to close three majority-Latino schools” said Erika Cervantes, a MALDEF attorney in a statement Wednesday. “PUSD has placed these schools last when it comes to investment in the students’ education. Latino children deserve better, and we’re holding PUSD accountable through this lawsuit for its discriminatory practices.”

The suit seeks a court order for Pasadena Unified to create a new, equitable school closure process that complies with state law.

Officials from the Pasadena Unified School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Victor Camacho and daughter Naomi, 5, a kindergartner at Jefferson Elementary, join protesters in the fall of 2019 outside the Pasadena Unified School Board meeting, where school closures were being debated.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

During the fall of 2019, the school board debate on school closures drew community protests.

The three schools that closed and the schools that received the influx of new students from those schools enrolled a majority of Latino students, according to the lawsuit. None of the closed schools were in the eastern part of the district, which has a higher percentage of white students. The district considered, but chose not to close two schools with declining enrollment that had a lower percentage of Latino student, the lawsuit alleges.

Of the shuttered campuses, Franklin Elementary School was 76% Latino, Jefferson Elementary was 86% Latino and Roosevelt Elementary school was 88% Latino during the 2019-2020 school year, according to the lawsuit, which cites data from the state department of education.

The district closed the campuses because of low enrollment, though Jefferson Elementary’s enrollment actually increased prior to its closure, from 382 students in the 2017-2018 school year to 409 in the 2019-2020 school year.

Pasadena Unified has 14,542 students based on the most recent attendance figures provided by the state, which are from the 2021-22 school year. That’s down from 16,881 in the 2017-18 school year.

Overall, the school system is 57.8% Latino, 19.1% white, 10.5% Black and 5.2% Asian. About 13.8% of students are learning English; for about 90% of these students, their first language is Spanish. About two-thirds of students belong to families with income low enough to qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school.

“Undoubtedly, PUSD’s targeted and deliberate closures send a clear message: To be Latino is to be stripped of your right to an equal education,” the lawsuit states.

The suit described some of the education hardships that parents say their children have experienced.

One second-grade student, the child of plaintiff Luz Becerra, has osteoporosis and uses a wheelchair. Becerra and the student live walking distance from his original school, Roosevelt Elementary, which was designed to accommodate children who require wheelchair access. The child was transferred to Willard Elementary, five miles away. As Becerra does not drive, she found difficulties in transporting her child to school, the suit alleges.

A third-grade student was moved from Franklin Elementary to Altadena Elementary and had trouble adjusting to his new environment. The child “experienced thoughts of suicide, depression and loneliness” and was placed in therapy, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit further alleges that parents were not given proper notice of the closures; notification came just a week before the closures were formally approved by district officials.

Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this story.