Quick Take
Pajaro Middle School has a new interim principal: Ricky Maldonado. Maldonado previously served as a social emotional counselor and assistant principal at Central Coast Middle School.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District recently announced the appointment of Ricky Maldonado as Pajaro Middle School’s interim principal for the remainder of the school year.
Maldonado replaces former principal Nicole Killian after the school’s teachers urged the district to remove her last year, accusing her of failing to keep students and staff safe.
Last month, district officials said Killian would be leaving the school to be the new assistant director of multilingual programs and that she would start that role after an interim was assigned to the school.
Maldonado has served in various roles in PVUSD schools, including social emotional counselor, assistant principal at Watsonville High and E.A. Hall Middle schools, academic counselor at Mar Vista Elementary and, most recently, assistant principal at Central Coast Middle School.
The school board announced his appointment during its meeting last week, and his first day on the job at Pajaro Middle School was Sept. 28.
PVUSD spokesperson Alejandro Chavez said the district will begin a search for a permanent principal in early spring. He said the district will involve staff, parents and community members in the selection process.
Pajaro Middle teacher Tim Powers said he and other colleagues are excited to work with Maldonado and that the school atmosphere has felt positive since he came on.
“It’s been a great couple of weeks,” Powers said. “He’s been really good at reaching out to everybody, checking in almost daily with staff, trying to see what they need and what we can do to help out students.”
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
