Quick Take
Aptos High School teachers and families were shocked and saddened to hear that Principal Alison Hanks-Sloan won’t be returning to the position next year. District officials say she resigned, but teachers believe she was told to leave.
Aptos High School Principal Alison Hanks-Sloan has announced she won’t be returning to the position next year, amid a dispute between school staff and district officials over the future of the school’s seven-period schedule.
The announcement last Friday by the popular principal set off a wave of calls for her to remain at the school and a petition that had more than 360 signatures as of this Friday morning, and statements urging the district to keep her in the post.
Dawn Sterner, whose daughter is a junior at Aptos High School, said she was surprised and upset to learn of the removal of Hanks-Sloan, whom she described as “friendly” and “available.” When her daughter was a freshman, it was Hanks-Sloan’s first year, so Sterner and her daughter were looking forward to having Hanks-Sloan for her final year next year.
“It was comforting to know that somebody like her was in charge, and I never heard of anything bad,” she said. “And that was also comforting. She just seems very involved with the students and I appreciate that.”
Hanks-Sloan declined to comment, but Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials told Lookout that she resigned from her position. Superintendent Heather Contreras didn’t respond to requests for comment about Hanks-Sloan’s departure. District officials declined to provide the principal’s resignation letter or the reason for her resignation.
Some school community members are refusing to accept that Hanks-Sloan resigned, saying that they believe the district either terminated her or reassigned her without providing a new position yet.
Aptos High teacher Andrew Ghiglia told Lookout that he thinks Hanks-Sloan was forced out of the position, because he and staff had no reason to assume otherwise. He said this news was a “shocker to everybody” and that “she would have told us.”
“I say that because she gave no one any impression or information to state otherwise,” he said. “And so we all assumed that she would continue to be our principal, because she does such a great job.”
In a letter to the school last Friday, Hanks-Sloan said she was grateful for her time there. Her letter didn’t mention either a resignation or a termination. It also doesn’t say where she’s going next.
“With genuine gratitude for this community, I share with you that I will not be returning as principal for the 2025-2026 school year,” she wrote. “Serving as the principal of this incredible school has been a true honor, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and support I’ve received from our students, families, and staff throughout my time here.”
Hanks-Sloan’s departure from the school comes after Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing board last month approved a round of layoffs to help keep the district fiscally solvent and to account for the loss of one-time COVID funding and declining enrollment.
Trustees voted late last month to eliminate about 60.55 full-time-equivalent positions out of the total 99.55 that were initially proposed. Chief Business Officer Jenny Im resigned following the board’s vote.
In response, Aptos High School teachers and administrators rallied against the layoffs which they feared would make it impossible for the school to maintain its seven-period schedule. The extra period allows students to take more electives and explore courses they wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to in the six-period schedule that many other schools use. For example, first-year students are required to take six core courses. By eliminating the seventh period, they no longer have the opportunity to take an elective, like ceramics or video production.
Teachers told Lookout that district officials later assured the high school that it would be able to keep the seven-period schedule for the upcoming year.
Aptos High film teacher Joel Domhoff said he doesn’t know why Hanks-Sloan is no longer the school’s principal, but said she was a big proponent of the seven-period schedule and he thinks that “ruffled some feathers because she was speaking on our behalf.”
“Alison very much supported and tried her best to keep our seven-period day and sort of structure intact, and I know that probably led to a lot of a lot of blowback on her because that’s not what the district wants,” he said. “Clearly, they want six [periods].”
He said Hanks-Sloan loves the students and has been a good leader for the school: “She did everything she could to make sure that everyone on the campus felt safe and respected and heard.”
Domhoff added that he’s aware of a total of seven people, including himself, who received a layoff notice, called a pink slip. The layoffs will be finalized by May 15. Hanks-Sloan’s departure has just added to issues the school’s teachers are facing, he said.
“Teachers are … distraught, think of any negative word you can think of, and that’s how the teachers are feeling,” he said. “They’re upset, they’re sad, they’re disappointed. They feel lied to, betrayed, misinformed, all the rest.”
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