Quick Take
A Watsonville High School student arrested in last week’s assault had previously been suspended for fighting and was already facing possible expulsion for aggressive behavior, according to district and union officials.
One of the students involved in last Thursday’s attacks at Watsonville High School had been facing possible expulsion for prior incidents when the violence broke out last week, school officials confirmed.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District spokesperson Alejandro Chavez told Lookout that the student was being considered for potential expulsion for a previous issue and officials were still determining how to resolve his case at the time of the attacks last week.
On Thursday morning, four Watsonville High students were involved in back-to-back incidents, including a stabbing and an assault on the school campus. One student was charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing a student and a staff member who intervened in the attack. Police charged three other students with felony battery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy, after officials say they assaulted a student.
Chavez didn’t respond to questions by publication time about whether the student he was referring to was the one accused of the stabbing and what kind of previous behavior caused the student to face a disciplinary investigation.
He said all three victims of Thursday’s attacks are recovering and are no longer being treated in local medical facilities.
All four students charged, between the ages of 14 and 16, are now undergoing disciplinary proceedings for last week’s incidents, according to the spokesperson.
“There will be a series of meetings to decide what happens,” Chavez said regarding whether the district will expel or suspend the students. “We can’t share about any of the students right now.”
Brandon Diniz, president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers union, told Lookout that Watsonville High staff had been raising concerns going back to the prior school year as the student had previously been suspended for “fighting and/or aggressive/unsafe behavior.”
“It sounds like the student had been involved in multiple disciplinary processes where the student was being considered for an expulsion earlier this year,” he said.
Diniz added that teachers informed him they were referring to the student who police and witnesses say stabbed another student and staff member.
Over the past several years, the California Department of Education has encouraged school officials to find other ways to discipline students and use suspensions and expulsions only as a last resort.
Department officials, citing research, say that punitive actions like suspension “do more harm than good,” disproportionately affect groups like Black students and students with disabilities, don’t address root causes of student behavior and take students away from the classroom.
In response, state legislation has, for example, prohibited suspension and expulsion for “willful defiance” of school authorities.
In PVUSD, the suspension rate slightly increased from 4.9% to 5.1% between 2019 and 2024.
Diniz said teachers notice that in some cases students who show a range of concerning behaviors, such as swearing at their teacher or acting aggressively, are sent to the principal’s office. Not long after, they come back to class with a “bag of chips or a lollipop” as a reward for “doing a good job talking about their behavior.”
Diniz said some teachers feel that the alternatives to suspension, as they’re currently implemented, appear to not be addressing the root causes. He said that while some teachers are frustrated about the district not taking stronger disciplinary action previously against that student, the school’s staff are focused on the students’ well-being going forward.
“I think the teachers and staff are all doing a fantastic job and just persevering and pushing forward and continuing to do their best for their students,” he said. “Outside of that, I feel like there’s still a lot of questions that remain.”
Last week’s violence was not the only incident to shock the school this month. A week before the stabbing and assault, on Oct. 16, Watsonville police arrested a 17-year-old Watsonville High student after school officials called the department with concerns he might be armed. After a brief chase, the student, who police say has local gang ties, was apprehended with a “loaded gun and an extended magazine in his waistband.” He was charged with bringing a gun to campus and resisting arrest.
Diniz said some teachers say they don’t feel they’ve been given enough guidance to best support students, and they’d like to have a meeting to brainstorm a structured response. Other teachers, he said, just want to keep moving forward.
“I think some of us feel like we’re moving on a little too quickly, especially when the week prior we had a student who brought a gun onto campus, and then you have an attempted murder on campus,” he said. “So I think there is some concern that we’re moving forward too fast without really taking the time to process, to grieve this and have a better plan moving forward.”
Chavez and Diniz said staff and students are accessing the support services offered by the school’s counselor, Daisy Nuñez, and local student and family services organization Pajaro Valley Prevention & Student Assistance.
Nuñez advises the school’s Hope Club, which is a student-run club focused on helping students process grief. Diniz said Nuñez informed him that following the Thursday attacks, student attendance doubled at the Hope Club lunchtime meeting.
“There were students who came to the club to get a sense of hope and sense of purpose and belonging,” he said.
Diniz said staff are doing their best to keep moving forward, but it’s challenging.
“Honestly, they’re not OK. We’re not OK. Our students aren’t OK, but we have no other option but to show up and do our best for them,” he said. “As frustrated as we are, we’re also hopeful and inspired that our people here can keep our kids safe and they’re doing everything they can.”
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