Consolidation 2027 Presentation Prepared
Fredericks prepares a presentation titled "Consolidation 2027" before any public process is announced, before TSS is hired, and before any community input. In an October 30 email to Trustee Velázquez, she describes it as "not intended for the public but as a visual aid."
Email to Trustee Kenne
Fredericks emails Trustee Kenne: "Can you send me the documentation from previous consolidations which would show examples of which positions would be duplicative? Can you send those by Monday please?" TSS had not been hired. No public process existed.
Consolidation 2027 Deck Emailed to Velázquez
Fredericks emails the "Consolidation 2027" presentation to board member Dr. Yarma Velázquez, describing it as "not intended for the public but as a visual aid." She writes that she "has been working on [the presentation] for several weeks."
Asks TSS for Friendlier Language; TSS Advises Shielding Communications
Fredericks emails TSS at 5:17 AM asking: "Has this process ever been called Consolidation and Programmatic Study or something to that effect? Just trying to speak to a balance in messaging — the positive part should be an improvement in educational programs. I saw that Hacienda La Puente called theirs a 'Reconfiguration.' This term feels slightly friendlier."
TSS Executive Vice President Joseph Pandolfo responds at 5:30 AM: "Since all emails to TSS are discoverable with a Freedom of Information Request, you may wish to consider getting Sarine involved in communications about this subject which would allow the communication to be protected by attorney client privilege." (Sarine Abrahamian is PUSD's outside attorney at Orbach, Huff & Henderson.)
TSS President Tahir Ahad also responds, suggesting the title "Enrollment Projections & Facilities Use Analysis" to "initiate the process and it could be expanded later as data dictates."
TSS Sends Draft Board Resolution
Ahad emails Fredericks a draft board resolution, "Pasadena Board item.docx", with the note: "Please review and modify as needed." The board vote on the resolution will not occur for another three weeks.
TSS Sends Sample Equity Impact Analysis
Pandolfo emails Fredericks and Velázquez a sample Equity Impact Analysis report TSS prepared for Inglewood USD in 2024–25, explaining: "The 'draft' becomes final once the District accepts public comment and responds the public comment."
Adds Harden to TSS Meeting; Cites Brown Act Limit
Fredericks emails TSS adding Harden to the December 1 meeting. She writes: "Note, we are a 7 member board so this is as many board members we can have within the Brown Act." She also schedules the meeting around her Dec 3 conversation with the superintendent about the agenda: "I will likely be discussing the agenda with the Superintendent on the morning of Wed. Dec 3, 2025. If we can firm up the drafts by then, that would be ideal."
AB 1912 Memo Forwarded to Harden
The night before a TSS meeting, Fredericks forwards Superintendent Blanco's AB 1912 memo marked "Attorney Client Privilege" and addressed to district counsel to Scott Harden, writing: "If you want to know what Dr. Blanco is thinking about school consolidation, she lays it out plainly in the attachments." In the same email, she reveals that TSS was referred to her by "Mr. Dunning" connected to LACOE.
"Total School Solutions is actually a company that Mr. Dunning referred me to because he trusts them. And it just so happens that Hacienda La Puente Unified, which LACOE often referenced, hired this same company."Tina Fredericks, email to Scott Harden, November 30, 2025 (CPRA 26-084)
Email Exchange with TSS President Ahad
Emails show Fredericks in contact with TSS President Tahir Ahad before his firm was formally contracted. Ahad recommends she use "School Reconfiguration" rather than "closures," and writes: "I think it would be best to not mention our discussions to the superintendent and let her own the process."
"I think it would be best to not mention our discussions to the superintendent and let her own the process."Tahir Ahad, TSS President, email to Tina Fredericks, December 1, 2025
YES TSS Contract (5–2)
Fredericks votes YES to retain Total School Solutions as the consolidation consultant at $233,300.
YES SCAC Desired Outcomes (5–2)
Fredericks votes YES to formally authorize the SCAC consolidation advisory process outcomes.
Credits Blanco for Hiring TSS, While Hiding Her Own Role
Responding to Warren Bleeker's complaint about SCAC interference, Fredericks writes: "As directed by the Board by Resolution 2582, Superintendent Dr. Blanco has designated Total School Solutions, to be the independent, reliable, and unbiased external expertise to lead the process."
The framing is false. Documents produced by CPRA request show that Fredericks had been coordinating privately with TSS President Tahir Ahad since at least November 2025, more than two months before Blanco formally reached out to TSS. TSS sent Fredericks a draft board resolution in November. TSS advised Fredericks to route communications through PUSD's attorney to shield them from public records. Fredericks chose TSS; Blanco ratified it.
"As directed by the Board by Resolution 2582, Superintendent Dr. Blanco has designated Total School Solutions, to be the independent, reliable, and unbiased external expertise to lead the process."
Colorado Boulevard Reports on Pre-Contract Coordination
Colorado Boulevard publishes its investigative report. The report includes Fredericks' public description of the process as "transparent and unbiased with no predetermined outcome."
↗ Colorado Boulevard: Inside the PUSD Consolidation Plan, May 11, 2026 ↗ Pasadena Now: Board to Install Tina Fredericks as President Amid Fiscal Crisis ↗ Exhibits to PUSD Brown Act Violation (CPRA document production) ↗ Colorado Boulevard: Tina Fredericks and Lisa Kroese — Contrasting Leadership Styles and Priorities