After violence, Watsonville High students, staff sad and searching for answers

A day after two back-to-back attacks – including a stabbing and an assault – on the Watsonville High School campus injured three people, students and staff on the sparsely attended campus Friday said they’re sad and in shock about the violence, and wondering why something so tragic happened at their school. 

One 16-year-old student, who spoke to Lookout on the condition of anonymity and with parental permission, said he witnessed the stabbing. He saw a student wielding a knife and watched the attack unfold. He recalled how the victim, a 14-year-old student, was standing despite his wounds, as the student who attacked him was pinned to the ground by school staff. 

“It was just very sad for me to see that this kind of stuff happens at my school,” he said. “I’ve heard about stuff happening at other schools, and obviously it’s unfortunate, but I never would have thought it would happen here at my school. It’s very, very sad to see.”

Immediately after the stabbing, a student who was at the scene of the stabbing gathered two other students and they assaulted a fourth student. The victim suffered moderate injuries. 

The four students involved in both attacks were charged and taken to Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall. Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials didn’t return requests for comment Friday about the condition of the victims. 

Friday wasn’t a normal day at the school by any means. The morning started with PVUSD officials and Watsonville Police Department officers announcing that social media rumors about a shooting at the school were a hoax. 

To boost security, district staff and police officers increased their presence on the campus. Squad cars and officers drove around the area and walked the school perimeter. Superintendent Heather Contreras was one of the many district and school staff members walking the school grounds. 

Several teachers said that they had very low attendance, with about 30% of their students showing up to each of their classes. The classrooms, hallways and campus felt empty. 

A group of six custodians told Lookout the feeling at the school Friday was somber and serious.

On Fridays, school typically ends early, at 1:45 p.m., so as the bell rang, staff and students filed out and made their way home for the weekend. Some of them stepped into the cafeteria, where a table had a large piece of paper and colorful pens. The large paper was a card for people to write notes to the staff member who was injured when he intervened in the stabbing. 

One note read, “You are a hero. Get well soon!”

Math teacher Donna LeFever sat at the table to sign the card. She said her overwhelming feeling was sadness, and added that she feels support services like counseling are needed for students who don’t feel they belong at school. 

“At a time like this, you want to find the person that’s at fault, but it’s a much larger community issue – our schools need more resources, that’s always been known,” she said. “It’s worrisome that counselor roles have been taken out of our district when we need more.” 

She said she spent most of Thursday evening asking what she should prepare for her students on Friday. Should she attempt a typical math lesson, or try to create something more reflective or meaningful? In the end, she provided academic and creative options, like making origami, for the students and let them choose how they wanted to spend their class time. 

She had about a third of her students attend classes Friday, as did English ethnic studies teacher Bobby Pelz. Both said they were torn about whether school should have been canceled Friday, but in the end, both wanted to be there for the students. 

On Thursday evening, Pelz asked himself if it was unsafe for him to go to school. On Friday morning, when he learned about the social media rumors before they had been disproved, he wondered if he was risking his life by going to school. 

“No. 1 for me was, if the kids have to be there, then I want to be there,” said Pelz. “My No. 1 priority was, I just want to be around and available in case, just in case.” 

Pelz said in his first period class, 11 out of 35 students were present, and after lunch, his fifth-period class had just six students out of 32 present. 

Another 16-year-old student who spoke to Lookout with parental permission on the condition of anonymity, said he and his classmates hadn’t experienced anything like that at school before. On Thursday, when they were under the shelter-in-place order after the attacks, he said he and his classmates struggled to find the words to talk about it. 

“I tried to take my mind off of it by doing homework in class, or putting music on,” he said. “But I was very confused, and by the end of the day, I was just kind of exhausted and worried at the same time.” 

On Friday, he said he felt all right about returning to school but he was nervous – particularly after learning about the rumored social media threats. 

“I just had to be aware that that was a possibility,” he said. “And that was something that I had to look out for, and I was just very, very, very alert.”

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