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Meet Scott.
Scott Harden, elected in 2024, represents District 4 on the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education. The father of two PUSD students, he is a dedicated advocate for education and family engagement.
Scott has served in various leadership roles within Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTAs) across the district, Don Benito School Site Council member and was chair of the District’s Local Control and Accountability Plan Parent Advisory Committee. He was a member of the PUSD Black Student & Family Task Force, which focused on closing opportunity gaps.
Professionally, Scott is a change management and innovation strategist for Fortune 500 clients, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. He managed the development of PUSD’s Imagine 2028 Strategic Plan, ensuring community input from students, staff, families, and labor and community partners. He also serves on the district’s Strategic Plan Roadmap Advisory Committee, helping ensure public awareness of the plan's implementation.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA.
Stay Connected!
I love to hear from folks in District 4 and across the district. Drop me a note, ask a question, share an idea, or schedule a meeting.
Events
Topics
Here are some of the important issues the Board is discussing:
PUSD Fiscal 2026-27 Budget
Pasadena Unified's 2026-27 adopted budget can look alarming at first glance: on paper, the district's general fund draws down about $161 million over the year. Almost all of that, however, is the district spending down insurance money it had already received to rebuild after the Eaton Fire — not a shortfall in everyday operations. Set the fire numbers aside, and the operating budget is essentially balanced, closing the year with a slim surplus.
That balance didn't come easily. For three years running, the district spent more than it took in, drawing its reserves down from roughly $69 million to $27 million. To stop the slide, the 2026-27 budget makes about $14.5 million in reductions — including roughly 122 fewer positions — bringing day-to-day spending back in line with revenue for the first time in that stretch.
The harder challenge is longer term. Enrollment is falling about 2.3% a year, and because state funding follows students, that steadily erodes the district's main source of revenue even as costs keep rising. Reserves remain thin, and current projections show budget gaps reopening in the years ahead.
Click here to view a summary dashboard that breaks the numbers down — the operating picture, the multi-year outlook, and the enrollment trends driving it all — with plain-language definitions throughout.
Click here to Download the full board-adopted 2026-2027 budget.
Resources
These are some handy sources of information when engaging in productive conversations about issues the District faces.
Learning and Advocacy
Learn how California’s education system works, so you can make a difference.
PEN is an independent grass-roots nonprofit organization that promotes family participation in public education to benefit all students in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. PEN provides parent education programs and services to help parents explore, evaluate, and engage with their public schools as well as representing a collective voice for parents with the Pasadena Unified School District.
Data Resources
These sources allow you to start your advocacy journey, monitor school and District progress, and compare student success across schools and Districts.
The Dashboard is an online tool designed to help communities access important information about TK-12 schools and districts. The Dashboard features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success. Accountability plan metrics are linked to dashboard indicators at the district and school site level.
Additional reports are available on DataQuest, including more detailed information about school performance, test results, student enrollment, English learner, graduation and dropout, school staffing, course enrollment, and special education enrollment by program setting.
CAASSP reports test scores from the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (ELA and Math), CA Science Test, CA Alternate Assessments, and additional optional tools. These standardized tests provide necessary achievement data to
comply with federal laws.
The ELPAC is used to determine and monitor the progress of the English language proficiency for students whose primary language is not English. It assesses four domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. ELPAC scores are one of the criteria for English Learner reclassification.
Ed-Data is a partnership of the California Department of Education, EdSource, and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). It allows users to create graphs over time of education data, provides access to financial information, and allows for comparisons between districts.
Special Education Indicator Report
Indicators aligned with state and national targets publicly available in a weird word doc.
School Accountability Report Card (SARC)
Lots of the same stuff as the Dashboard, plus school-level details on curriculum, facilities, class sizes, staff like counselors, and some salary information.
California Healthy Kids Survey
The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is an anonymous, confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency.