A top administrator with Pajaro Valley Unified School District has been placed on administrative leave after being charged by Watsonville police with sexual assault on Sept. 3.
Ivan Alcaraz, 37, of Watsonville, has worked in the district for more than a decade, including as assistant principal at Watsonville High School, principal at Rolling Hills High School and the district’s director of student services. In July, he was promoted to executive director of student support services.
PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contraras notified school district leaders, a district spokesperson confirmed, saying that “a PVUSD administrator has been placed on administrative leave following an arrest.”
“This matter is currently under investigation by local authorities,” Contreras wrote. “Based upon what is currently known, the arrest is unrelated to the individual’s employment with PVUSD and does not involve any PVUSD students. Personnel issues are confidential under the law. Therefore, we are unable to provide further comments or details at this time.”
Alcaraz spent his entire childhood education in the Pajaro Valley district, according to a 2019 Pajoronian article, graduating from Watsonville High School in 2005 and then returning to work at the school in 2013 as an intervention counselor.
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