After the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board voted to cut up to 160 jobs, community members are organizing to do what they can to stop the district from implementing all the layoffs, which they say will be devastating to students.
K-12 Education
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California schools that need foreign workers for teacher jobs can’t afford Trump’s new visa fee
The Trump administration is now requiring new H-1B visa applicants to pay $100,000. California school districts that depend on hiring foreign workers to fill teacher jobs, especially in special education and bilingual education, say they can’t afford the new fee.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley school board votes to cut nearly 160 jobs, more than 40 in special education, during stormy meeting
In a marathon, chaotic session that ended with the room being cleared because of disruptions, Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustees voted Thursday to cut 160 jobs in an effort to stay solvent and comply with California budget requirements.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified school board to consider nearly 160 layoffs at Thursday meeting
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District governing board will weigh nearly 160 proposed layoffs, including arts teachers, mental health clinicians, counselors and dozens of special education staff — cuts union leaders say would “devastate” students.
Posted inEducation
PVUSD family, special education staff say proposed cuts will ‘devastate’ most vulnerable students
Parents and educators in Pajaro Valley Unified School District warn that proposed cuts to more than 40 special education positions will severely undermine services for the district’s most vulnerable students, who they say are already under-supported.
Posted inEducation
County Office of Education brings computer science nights to Watsonville High, Santa Cruz MAH
Computer Science Education Week Community Nights are open to K-12 students, parents and community members to explore hands-on activities that showcase opportunities within the computer science field.
Posted inEducation
Santa Cruz High music director to march in Rose Parade on New Year’s Day
Christina Latham is among 300 band directors invited to make up a marching band of music teachers from around the country at the Jan. 1 Rose Parade in Pasadena.
Posted inEducation
Watsonville High student named semifinalist for Coca-Cola Scholars Program
Azucena Sandoval, a senior at Watsonville High School, has been named a semifinalist for the 2026 Coca-Cola Scholars Program, placing her in the top 1% of 107,000 applicants nationwide.
Posted inEducation
‘Moral failure’: Parents, mental health workers urge PVUSD trustees to reject sweeping layoffs
Teachers, mental health clinicians and parents packed Watsonville’s City Council chambers Wednesday night to plead with Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials to scrap a plan to cut 160 full-time positions next month.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
As government shutdown ends, Santa Cruz County nonprofit scrambles to restart Head Start child care program
Encompass Community Services is scrambling to reopen Head Start, a federally funded low-income child care program, after the government shutdown and cuts to its annual budget caused the nonprofit to temporarily stop its services late last month.