Quick Take
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board will vote Wednesday on a new chief business officer as it faces continued fiscal challenges. Trustees will also hear a report showing improvements in student attendance, suspensions and graduation rates across the district.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Wednesday school board meeting has a packed agenda, including a vote on a new chief business officer, a discussion on thousands in unspent state dollars for arts and music and a look at the district’s financial health months after the board rejected proposed layoffs.
Additionally, Superintendent Heather Contreras will share data on the district’s improving performance when it comes to student attendance, suspension and graduation rates.
A new chief business officer
The board will vote whether to approve Gerardo Castillo as the district’s new chief business officer for the period of Oct.1 through June 30, 2026. If approved, he’ll be paid a salary of $229,000 that will be prorated based on his start date. The contract can be renewed for an additional two years after board approval.
His potential appointment comes after years of turnover and a tumultuous period of heated board meetings last year where trustees, parents and teachers scorned staff for proposed cuts and layoffs to address the district’s deficit.
Kim Sims and Jenny Im served as interim CBOs after Clint Rucker departed from the district in the fall of 2023. Im was appointed to the role permanently in July 2024 before she resigned in March of this year. She submitted her resignation the day after the district’s governing board – for a second time – rejected layoff proposals that she and Contreras recommended for the district to remain fiscally solvent.
Im is now serving as the CBO at Live Oak School District.
A LinkedIn profile for someone who shares Castillo’s name lists him as the current CBO at Robla School District in Sacramento, where he’s been working since April 2020. The profile shows he’s served in different CBO and fiscal services positions in Sacramento for about 20 years. PVUSD spokesperson Alicia Jimenez said she wouldn’t confirm if this is the same Gerardo Castillo who is being considered for the district’s CBO job until after the board votes and the decision is final.
Arts and music spending
The board will discuss nearly $460,000 in arts and music funding from the state that is at risk of being lost because it hasn’t been spent.
Since the 2023-24 school year, schools have received an annual allocation of funds from the California government specifically for arts and music funding. Each year of funds has a three-year window for spending. California voters approved the arts and music funding in 2022 by passing Proposition 28.
Prop 28 funding has strict limitations for how it can be spent: At least 80% must be spent on staff who teach arts education, no more than 1% can be spent on administrative costs and the remaining must go to training and supplies.
At PVUSD, 13 schools have a total of $458,547.72 in funds from 2023-24 that are at risk of expiring at the end of the 2025-26 school year. Rolling Hills Middle and Freedom Elementary schools have the highest amount at $75,058.35 and $74,991.04, respectively, with Radcliff Elementary close behind at $70,817.48. The remaining 10 schools have between $2,894.17 and $57,613.33 left to spend before the end of this school year.
The report on spending says that “schools made a strong effort to hire personnel (FTE) using Prop 28 funds; however, many positions remained unfilled throughout the 2024-25 fiscal year.”
Student outcome data
Contreras will present preliminary data on student outcomes such as attendance, academic performance and graduation rates for the 2024-25 school year.
The data from the presentation shows several positive trends, including declines in chronic absenteeism and suspension rates and a higher graduation rate, compared to the prior year, 2023-24. The district saw a significant drop in its suspension rate, a small decline in the absenteeism rate and a slight increase in graduation rate.
Students are considered chronically absent if they missed 10% or more of the days they were enrolled in school – regardless of whether or not the absences are excused. The chronic absenteeism rate declined 8%, from 25.8% in 2023-24 to 23.67% in 2024-25.
The district’s suspension rates also declined 31% – from 5.1% down to 3.52% – moving the district from “low performing” in that category up to “high performing” compared to other districts in the state.
PVUSD’s graduation rate increased slightly by 1.5% from 90.6% to 92% – keeping the district in the “high performing” category. If the district continues to improve at that rate, PVUSD will be among the highest-performing for graduation rates.
Financial reports
The board will also hear reports on the district’s finances for the 2024-25 and 2023-24 school years. Last spring, the district attempted to implement layoffs to account for a budget deficit, but the school board rejected layoff proposals twice. Contreras and district staff say they’re planning to make cuts this fiscal year to ensure the district stays fiscally solvent. The board will get an updated look at the district’s current financial picture.
The board will also discuss an annual independent audit report that was originally due to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, California Department of Education and the State Controller by Dec. 15. The district requested an extension for an annual audit report, citing a staff shortage, according to Santa Cruz Local.
Meeting details
The public session of the meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at the Watsonville City Council Chambers located at 275 Main St. To watch remotely, visit https://www.youtube.com/c/pvusdstreaming/live.
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