School can’t be out for winter
After staff complaints, Pasadena City College is ordered to restore January session.
Pasadena City College officials acted illegally when they canceled the school’s winter session three years ago, and must restore the classes and pay faculty for any economic losses brought on by the change, according to a preliminary ruling.
The decision by the Public Employment Relations Board, which decides labor disputes for many public agencies, validates complaints by faculty and staff that college officials hadn’t properly negotiated the scheduling change. The school’s faculty association filed a complaint with the employment board shortly after the winter session was canceled.
“Obviously it’s not a great thing for [the school] to lose a lawsuit but it is a great thing to go back to a place where faculty, staff and students feel like they’re represented,” said Marshall Lewis, a former student trustee.
College officials initially said they were forced to eliminate the winter session, a block of classes traditionally held in January and February, because of economic concerns.
It is unclear how much the decision could cost the college, which was ordered to repay employees for economic losses with 7% interest. It is also unclear when the school would restore the winter session or whether officials will appeal the decision.
The president of the school’s board of trustees declined to answer questions about the ruling.
“We need to study the ramifications of the decisions before we make any statement,” said Rajen Vurdien, president of the college.
Lewis said the cancellation of the winter session has been the “one, single thing that students have been upset about the whole time,” especially since some of them participated in committees that suggested restoring the winter session.
“We haven’t been listened to,” he said.
Lawrence Rosenzweig, an attorney who represented the faculty association, said instructors shared similar concerns.
“The moral of the story is there’s supposed to be shared governance,” he said. “Instead, the administrators came up with their own plan.”
The campus has had several high-profile controversies over the last several years. Administrators were criticized for rescinding an invitation to speak at commencement to alumnus Dustin Lance Black.
Black did address graduates after trustees voted to give the Oscar-winning screenwriter nearly $26,000 not to sue; Black later said the money was used for travel expenses and legal fees.
Former President Mark W. Rocha left his position in 2014 and received a $400,000 severance package after he threatened to sue the school after a trustee publicly criticized him.