About 13,800 Pasadena Unified students returned to class Monday, Aug. 17, with outdoor areas still fenced off at multiple campuses and an unresolved lawsuit against the City of Pasadena over trees removed during Eaton Fire soil remediation.
None of the 11 campuses where crews spent the summer excavating contaminated soil is both fully complete and fully unrestricted, according to a campus-by-campus status report the district released ahead of the first day. Blair High School, Cleveland Elementary, the Education Center, Jefferson Children's Center and Octavia E. Butler Magnet opened with excavation or restoration zones closed behind fencing. Four more schools have smaller restrictions around gardens, fields or courtyards: Field Elementary, John Muir High School, San Rafael Elementary and Washington Elementary STEM Magnet.
The $6.6 million remediation project required removing roughly 8,000 cubic yards of soil — about 13,400 tons — after environmental testing found lead and arsenic levels exceeding state screening thresholds at portions of the campuses. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control directed the cleanup.
Trees became the flashpoint
The district's plan called for removing 193 trees rooted in contaminated-soil excavation footprints. That triggered a months-long legal and political battle with the City of Pasadena over whether PUSD must comply with the city's Tree Protection Ordinance.
The timeline shifted fast. On June 12, city staff told the district the ordinance did not apply because the work was part of a hazardous-materials removal project. By June 17, the city asked work to halt. On June 25, Pasadena officially reversed its earlier determination. By July 1, the city had posted stop-work notices at seven campuses: the Education Center, Field Elementary, John Muir High School, Longfellow Elementary, Octavia E. Butler Magnet, Washington Elementary STEM Magnet and San Rafael Elementary.
PUSD crews kept cutting. On July 9, city Chief Communications Officer Lisa Derderian said officials sent to John Muir's campus were told to leave, according to Altadena Now. The city obtained a court-ordered inspection warrant and sent a certified arborist onto the John Muir campus July 11. By then, more than 70 trees had already been felled across district sites.
The PUSD Board of Education authorized legal action July 16, and the district filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court, arguing it holds sovereign immunity from local zoning regulations. On July 24, Judge Joseph Lipner denied PUSD's request for a temporary restraining order, ruling the district had not shown irreparable harm.
Councilmember Rick Cole, in a July 15 statement, acknowledged the city's initial error but placed blame on the district. "That was a mistake — and we own it," Cole said of the June 12 determination. He added that PUSD had months to seek hardship exemptions for individual trees but chose not to.
What it means for families
Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco defended the tree removals in a July 31 statement. "Where a tree cannot safely remain while that work is completed, student health and access to their campuses must come first," Blanco said.
In an Aug. 14 message to families, Blanco said summer crews added new fencing and playgrounds, cleaned all schools and completed environmental work at several sites. She reported the district's graduation rate has risen to 91%, exceeding the state average.
The underlying lawsuit remains active. The city generated $12 million for the district last year through Measure J, a financial relationship now shadowed by the courtroom fight.
No next court date has been publicly announced.
