Pajaro Valley Unified School District renewed contracts this week with local law enforcement agencies to provide on-campus officers at Aptos High, Watsonville High and Pajaro Valley High.
K-12 Education
Posted inEducation
California school libraries blindsided by ‘catastrophic’ budget cut
California’s latest budget cut $5.5 million for K-12 school libraries. That money pays online fees for student research materials.
Posted inEducation
Pajaro Valley Unified chief business officer resigns
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Chief Business Officer Gerardo Castillo announced his resignation this week after less than a year on the job. His departure comes as the district grapples with continued strains on its budget.
Posted inVisual Story
Preparing for the unthinkable: Local first responders drill at Soquel High for mass-casualty incident
Law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel are participating in Santa Cruz County’s five-day active-shooter response training this week at Soquel High School. The annual exercise, hosted by the sheriff’s office, brings together about 150 officers and more than 80 firefighters to practice coordinated response to a simulated mass-casualty incident.
Posted inEducation
Watsonville police charge woman with criminal threats after social media comment
Watsonville police officers arrested a 22-year-old woman Friday after they say she posted a threatening comment on Instagram directed at the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board.
Posted inEducation
Could early education bring down rising costs to serve California students with disabilities?
Parents, educators and researchers say that inclusive early education improves outcomes for students with disabilities and reduces the need for more intensive — and costly — special education services in older grades.
Posted inEducation
Here are the recommendations for renaming Watsonville’s Cesar Chavez Middle School
A Pajaro Valley Unified School District committee has recommended renaming Cesar E. Chavez Middle School either Central Coast Middle School or Tagami Hashimoto Middle School following allegations of sexual abuse against the late civil rights and farmworker advocate that surfaced earlier this year. The school board reviewed the options last week and is expected to vote on a new name at a future meeting.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Police determine suspicious device found at Watsonville High to be ‘nonexplosive science experiment’
Watsonville police officers were investigating a suspicious device found on the Watsonville High School campus Thursday morning.
Posted inEducation
Some California schools get three times more funding than others. Here’s why
School funding in California steers a lot to wealthy districts and to those with high-needs students. Those in the middle get a lot less.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Teachers at Pajaro Middle School say they don’t feel safe or supported. Why isn’t the district acting?
Pajaro Middle School survived catastrophic flooding in 2023, but now faces a different challenge: a breakdown in trust between teachers, administrators and the district, writes Brandon Diniz, president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers Local 1936. Teachers cite safety concerns, poor communication and inadequate responses to serious incidents, he writes. In May, 88% of teachers said they had no confidence in principal Nicole Killian’s leadership. District leaders, Diniz says, can no longer dismiss the concerns as a labor dispute and must address the serious issues the school faces.
