PVUSD revives debate over controversial ethnic studies program at Friday meeting

Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing board will revive the contentious issue of how to implement its ethnic studies curriculum in a study session on Friday.

The session marks an important moment for the district, which has struggled to find consensus on how to move forward on the issue. In September 2023, the board voted to terminate a key contract with a consultant who helped staff and teachers create their own framework to guide teachers in creating lessons for their ethnic studies courses. That decision sparked a protracted community backlash.

Trustees will focus on three objectives on Friday: to dive deeply into ethnic studies in the district, to get a comprehensive understanding of how the program developed and current needs and to start discussing potential next steps, such as whether to hire another professional development consultant. However, the board won’t vote on any aspect of its ethnic studies curriculum at the study session.

Following Friday’s meeting, the district plans to hold a town hall in the coming weeks. After that, district staff wrote in the meeting agenda that they plan to present the board with a new contract for a professional development consultant on April 16. Trustees will then vote on a new contract at a May 7 meeting.

Controversy over PVUSD’s ethnic studies curriculum erupted in 2023, when the board unexpectedly declined to renew a contract with Community Responsive Education (CRE), a consulting firm led by Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, a professor in the Asian American studies department at San Francisco State University.

The district had partnered with CRE since in 2021, responding to California legislation that requires all public schools to offer ethnic studies courses by 2025 and makes such courses a graduation requirement by 2030.

Former trustees Georgia Acosta and Kim De Serpa cited concerns about Tintiangco-Cubales’ involvement with a 2019 version of a state model curriculum – including a dispute over how to characterize the Israel-Palestine conflict – as their reason for opposing the contract renewal. Since that September 2023 vote, a coalition of teachers, students, parents and community members has repeatedly advocated for CRE’s return, though trustees have not revisited the decision until now.

“This community just feels like we’re playing the waiting game at the moment,” said Bobby Pelz. The Watsonville High School ethnic studies English teacher has emerged as a leading voice among supporters of continuing the CRE contract and ensuring the district keeps making its ethnic studies curriculum a priority. He said the governing board hasn’t moved quickly enough to address these concerns. 

Shortly after Superintendent Heather Contreras was hired in the spring to replace Michelle Rodriguez, she told the district community she would listen first before deciding how to move forward. Months passed without any action as the district focused on its budget challenges, before the governing board voted in January to hold a special meeting in March to discuss the district’s ethnic studies curriculum. 

On Friday, an almost entirely new board will discuss ethnic studies. Five of the seven trustees are new to the board since the September 2023 decision to not renew the contract. 

Assistant Superintendent Claudia Monjaras will present the deep dive into the district’s ethnic studies history, curriculum and current needs in a 55-page presentation.  

Pelz said he will be at the meeting on Friday, and he thinks a lot of CRE and ethnic studies supporters in the community will also attend. 

“I think it’s important for the board to signal to the community that they hear the community and they’re responding to what the community has asked for,” he said. “I think it’s important for the people of this community to feel like the board represents them.” 

The study session will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Watsonville City Council chambers. The meeting will also be livestreamed on YouTube. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.