Don Benito Pride

Hi there We 💙 DB crew, we know there has been a lot going on these last several weeks since the last regular board meeting on April 23. We had a great group go represent our Bobcat community and make public comment at that meeting. A big THANK YOU to Ashley L., Kany C., Sandra K., Mrs. Hernandez, and Brian B. for all speaking on behalf of our school and to everyone else in attendance as a support system.

--

As you likely already know on Monday the SCAC held it's final meeting where they were set to vote on the consolidation options presented. We'll line out details of that meeting below. However, that morning, May 11th, Coloradoboulevard.net published an article that brought to light disappointing and potentially illegal actions by 4 PUSD Board members believed to have violated the Brown Act with "diabolical plans" to close schools. Through public records requests it was found that Trustees Scott Harden, Kim Kenne, Yarma Velasquez, and President Tina Fredricks (who oversees Don Benito) had been engaging in private meetings with one another to forward their own consolidation plans targeting specific schools. Further, Tina Fredricks initiated conversations to develop consolidation plans, that included Don Benito, with the consultant hired to lead the SCAC. This was all done prior to any notice to the public and many months before consolidation was a public agenda item from the board. This matter, while ongoing, has entirely broken community trust. How are we to move forward as a district with visions of "transformation," as some Trustees call it, when we can't even trust that they are being fully transparent with us in the process?

You can read the article here:

Inside the PUSD Consolidation Plan: Emails Reveal Early Strategy, Private Coordination, and Brown Act

While this is very much an ongoing and developing process, we do know a few things for certain:

These Board Members acted in bad faith with intent to target certain schools before a committee was ever formed and public input could be received. Regardless of where someone may stand on consolidation, this process cannot be trusted as the whole system was flawed from the start. Our own Board Trustee, Tina Fredricks, was the one who initiated conversations about DB being a prime real estate opportunity for the district- this is appalling. A trustee should be working to uplift and advocate for their school communities. Instead of coming to visit Don Benito to connect with our community hear our concerns as parents, and find ways to effectively partner with us to give Don Benito the support it is long overdue for, she has been brainstorming ways to directly harm our children by closing their beloved school. Without so much as even meeting us, hearing from her constituents or thoughtfully connecting with the Don Benito community at large, Tina has made up her mind that our school does not deserve her attention and advocacy. This is not how you govern and earn the trust of your community when the stakes are about as high as they can get- closing numerous schools.

Like you, we are angry, disappointed, feel betrayed and concerned for the stability of our children in PUSD. We love Don Benito and we will use our voices to demand the equity it deserves. Please join us.

The district has done nothing but let down the DB community year after year. Decades of promised voter-approved bond funds have repeatedly been halted and taken away. Our incredible veteran teaching staff knows all too well of the broken promises and visions for their school over many years. We support all schools in PUSD getting their overdue facility upgrades they are owed; we ask that Don Benito be given the same support and resource allocation as our fellow PUSD schools. No school in PUSD is "better" than any other. Schools require support from the district in the form of equitable resource allocation in order to thrive. Each school has a wonderfully unique identity that serves the families that selected it. PUSD has disappointingly created a class-system and hierarchy of schools where schools are labeled less-than due to the Board's own narratives and neglect. Our school and our children are not less than.

--

A few cliff notes from the Special Board meeting that was held Thursday night at 7pm. Here is the Agenda. *note: The agenda has been updated to omit the language describing the "one case." The date and times of the agenda are also incorrect and we are unsure why they are incorrect now as they were not yesterday. There was only one agenda item and it was a closed session item: Conference with Legal Counsel – Anticipated Litigation (Significant exposure to litigation against the District pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9 (d)(2).):

You can watch the Public Comment here on YouTube as it is currently not posted on the PUSD website and board agendas page at this time. The streaming begins at the 8:40 mark.

The SCAC voted No on all consolidation scenarios presented by Total School Solutions.

The meeting on Monday was very well attended with a majority of families from Blair and Marshall. Though DB had fewer community members present, the group at large stands in solidarity with all schools and is against school closures for all.

• Read about the final SCAC meeting here and here. And Dr. Blanco's message on the meeting here.
• See the final vote tally and read the comments provided with the votes here.

Our wonderful UHR neighbors have been been attending board meetings, town halls, and sending emails to the Board and PUSD leadership. We are so grateful to them. We see many of our PTA Board and Members showing up to support- we see you, thank you! Our teachers are engaged and listening as well. We encourage everyone to please carve out some time to complete an action item that you have yet to participate in and keep spreading the word!

• A neighbor started the SAVE DON BENITO petition. Please sign it and circulate it with your local community, if you have not done so.
• Our fabulous neighbors Elizabeth, Johnathan, Maria, and Patricia (photo below) have setup a petition signing table outside of their homes, across the street from car line. They will be there all next week. Please stop by and add your name. A photo of their requests and letter to the PUSD Board is below. This is separate from the Change.org petition.

ATTEND THE NEXT PUSD BOARD MEETING ON THURSDAY, MAY 28- please consider making a public comment if you have yet to do so. While many of us have commented to the board and made our views known, it is important that the diverse voices of our wonderful community are heard. We know it can feel daunting and so much goes into attending that one meeting, but please join us and share your voice if you are able to. The agenda will be posted online soon. Please see the section below for all of the tips and 411 on attending board meetings. Times for public comment, agenda items, etc, are TBD until the agenda is posted.

EMAIL THE PUSD BOARD WITH PUBLIC COMMENT- Your emails make a difference! It is important that families from all Trustee areas are letting the board know that the behavior of the 4 Trustees is not acceptable, has eroded all trust from the community, and we demand better. These trustees have been called on to resign or face recall. See the Board Meeting 411 section below for PUSD Trustee emails.

It will be very crowded, you will need to submit a comment card to speak. Comment cards can be found on a table across from the stairs outside the board room. Expect a wait to speak depending on when you submit your card. The earlier you submit the sooner you are called. Expect for there to be an overflow room outside of the Board Room. You can sit in the overflow room and enter the board room to stand in solidarity with other DB speakers when they are called. It is likely that you may only have 1 minute to speak, maybe 1:30, prepare accordingly.

If you cannot attend the meeting you can watch online HERE

We know that it can feel scary to get up there and speak. It's unfamiliar, it's a pressured moment, so many people watching. But your voices and expectations matter. The PUSD Board should hear from all of the Bobcat voices, diversity in messages from our community is crucial. Please be a voice for DB!

You may also send an email to the board that is not on the public comment record. Only emails with "Public Comment" in the subject are on record.

You can email the trustee who represents where you live (map here), any of them, or all of them! Here are the schools each trustee oversees (trustee schools list)

*District 6 - Tina Fredericks <fredericks.tina@pusd.us> (Don Benito Trustee)
District 1 - Kimberly Kenne <kenne.kimberly@pusd.us>
District 2 - Jennifer Hall Lee <halllee.jennifer@pusd.us>
District 3 - Michelle Richardson Bailey <bailey.michelle@pusd.us>
District 4 - Scott Harden <harden.scott@pusd.us>
District 5 - Patrice Marshall McKenzie <marshallmckenzie.pat@pusd.us>
District 7 - Dr. Yarma Velázquez <velazquezvargas.yarm@pusd.us>

Superintendent- Dr. Elizabeth Blanco <blanco.elizabeth@pusd.us>

PUSD Board Directory

SCAC official updates page

--

PUSD Board Meetings: May 28, 2026, June 11, 2026

SCAC Meetings: concluded