Pasadena school district president launches Hail Mary bid to dodge recall after scandal

A California school board president accused of secretly pushing a school consolidation plan and helping steer a six-figure consulting contract is trying to kill a recall campaign before voters can weigh in.

Pasadena Unified School District Board President Tina Fredericks has turned to the courts to stop the effort to oust her — setting up a legal showdown over allegations she conducted district business behind closed doors.

Recall organizers accuse Fredericks of violating California’s Ralph M. Brown Act — the state’s open-meetings law — through private meetings and a series of communications with other board members about school consolidation.

They also claim she advanced her own “Consolidation 2027” plan while presenting the process as independent, and that she worked with a consultant before the consultant received a taxpayer-funded contract worth more than $233,000, according to Pasadena Now.

Fredericks denies the allegations.

She reportedly said no more than two or three of the seven board members participated in any communication and that “Consolidation 2027” was a collection of personal notes never circulated.

However, the case takes an unusual turn.

Her original court filing included 124 unidentified “Doe” parties, matching the number of residents who signed the notice of intention to circulate the recall petition.

Recall proponents believed the filing meant Fredericks intended to sue each of them, Pasadena Now reported.

Fredericks later removed the residents from the case, saying they included them because of a misunderstanding of the filing requirements.

“I had no intention of suing them,” she told Pasadena Now. “From the beginning my goal was just to clear up the falsehoods about me, and that’s it.”

Fredericks — who represents Trustee Area 6 — filed the lawsuit July 2 against the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder to invalidate the recall petition and prevent it from circulating while the court considers her challenge.

She submitted an amended petition Sept. 2 striking the 124 signers from the filing.

The case is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Tiana J. Murillo at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

Fredericks is representing herself in the proceedings.

The Registrar-Recorder approved recall petitions against Fredericks and Trustee Scott Harden for signature gathering on August 13.

Supporters now have until December 11 to gather signatures from 20% of eligible voters in each trustee area, according to the outlet.

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