According to a press release from Santa Barbara Community College (SBCC), Dr. Erika Endrijonas has been selected as their new Superintendent-president. Her employment is pending contract negotiations with the SBCC Board of Trustees, where a formal contract will be presented and voted on at their BOT meeting on June 15. Ongoing contract negotiations between the PCC Board of Trustees and Endrijonas spurred the job search, as accusations about the Board President attempting to invalidate the contract resulted in high legal fees, The Courier previously reported. …
Episode Five: BTS on the PCC Board Debacle
On a special episode of the podcast, David and Sol are joined by news editor Seamus to discuss the behind the scenes on recent reporting by The Courier on the recent divides on the PCC Board of Trustees over the Superintendent’s contract and issues other PCC groups are bringing to the Trustees. The two stories that are referenced in this episode: https://www.pcccourier.com/main-story/board-president-accused-of-attempting-to-terminate-superintendent-president.html https://www.pcccourier.com/main-story/superintendent-presidents-contract-negotiations-cause-board-division.html
Altadena community opposes proposed Poly sports complex
In what is likely to be one of the biggest LA County land disputes in 25 years, the community of Altadena and Pasadena private school Polytechnic, are at odds over a 78-acre property. The property has been owned by world famous Nuccio’s Nursery, for almost ninety years and is now where Polytechnic has publicly presented plans to build a sports complex and environmental facilities. Local Altadena group, AltadenaWILD, began in early 2023. As the community that lives closest to the disputed property, they rallied against …
Superintendent’s contract negotiations divide trustees
The PCC Board of Trustees is divided over the retention of additional legal counsel and the potential extension of Superintendent-President Dr. Erika Endrijonas’ contract. Endrijonas’ current contract, which extends through 2024, was verified by Resolution 761 in a 5-2 vote on Feb. 15. A contract verifying the employment of Endrijonas for the 2024-2025 academic year remains unconfirmed, leaving her future at the college in question. The resolution aims to cure potential Brown Act violations surrounding the evaluation of the Superintendent-President which occurred in closed session …
PCC student arrested for wielding a knife in the PCC library on Wednesday
Apr. 29: In an update, the individual identified as the person threatening students with the knife was confirmed to be a PCC student, according to PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide. Boekelheide also said that the student would be disciplined through PCC’s Student discipline process, but the exact nature of the outcome is currently unknown due to this being an ongoing investigation. Apr. 28: In an incident on the evening of Apr. 26 a group of students and library staff were threatened by an individual assumed to …
Board President accused of attempting to terminate Superintendent-President
Former PCC Trustees and the Management Association voiced concerns about Board President Sandra Chen Lau’s alleged attempts to overreach and terminate the current contract of Superintendent-President Dr. Erika Endrijonas at the joint Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting with Associated Students on April 19. Following the election of new trustees Steve Gibson, Kristine Kwong, and Alton Wang and the promotion of Chen Lau to Board President in June 2022, the Board did not formally extend Endrijonas’ contract another year, former PCC President Jack Scott said in …
PCC Library closes briefly due to police investigation
Early Monday morning, PCC released an email to the campus community stating there was police activity at the library concerning a threat. “The PCC library on the Colorado Campus is closed this morning due to police activity,” the email read. In a statement from PCC, spokesperson Alex Boekelheide said that there had been an anonymous threat received against the library, with PCC police and the LA County Sheriff’s investigating the threat this morning. “The Sheriffs and PCC PD investigated the library today and determined that …
Let’s Talk Episode 3: Nashville, Narcan and Academic Senate
Published April 5: In the third episode David and Sol welcome news editor Seamus, and talk about Trump’s indictment, Narcan, the tragic Nashville shooting and mental illness, and the latest PCC Academic Senate debacle.
Academic Senate president fires back at ‘unauthorized’ faculty newsletter
The Academic Senate (AS) at Pasadena City College rebuked a group of faculty members for sharing an “unauthorized” newsletter that was not approved by the AS Executive Board, in what they called a newsletter full of myths, lies, and opinions that lacked “collegiality.” “Please be advised that this newsletter does not represent, nor has it been authorized by the 40+ members of the Academic Senate board,” the email said. “The ‘newsletter’ in question is full of misinformation, untruths and the opinion of one (or very …
Oversight committee selected to watch over $565 million school bond measure
The Pasadena City College Board of Trustees elected a 12 member Bond Oversight Committee within the college’s community to ensure that funds from the $565 million Measure PCC are used for what was promised at their meeting in March. After the election results were certified in January the Board began the 60 day process to elect the committee, and began its search. In a press release from PCC following their confirmation and the announcement at the board meeting, the trustees explained the importance of the …