Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Heather Contreras listens as  community members speak at a meeting on Oct. 22. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

WATSONVILLE >> To address an ongoing financial crisis, Pajaro Valley Unified School District could start closing schools as early as 2027. 

The district is launching an advisory committee to draft recommendations for school consolidation, a first step in the lengthy process. This comes as declining enrollment and the end of one-time pandemic era funding have strapped the district budget, a problem faced by many school districts across the state.

“None of us want to do this, but we’re starting the process that all of us are requesting to do because of the situation that we’re in,” Trustee Jessica Carrasco said at the meeting. “I don’t want to do it, but I understand that I have to do it.”

The Sustainable Schools Advisory will be tasked with producing multiple options for which schools to close and present a final recommendation for the board to consider by November. The group will weigh how the closure of each school in the district would affect travel times and access to transportation, schools’ current and projected enrollment, community feedback, equity and other considerations in 16 meetings from April to November.

The committee will have about 20 voting members including teachers, parents, district employees, neighborhood associations, business owners, and others. Interested residents can apply starting next week on a Google Form, and will be open through April 3. The first meeting is set for April 14. 

“The ultimate goal is simple but profound: ensuring that every student has equitable access to high quality opportunities,” PVUSD Chief Business Officer Gerardo Castillo said while describing the new committee’s responsibilities. 

The Board of Trustees gave their initial input on the committee at Wednesday’s meeting, emphasizing the importance of selecting representatives from diverse backgrounds and neighborhoods. 

“If we don’t have equitable representation from all the schools and groups, then I don’t think this is going to go as well as the district is planning,” Trustee Gabriel Medina said. 

Reorganizing school resources and closing certain campuses comes as the district approved layoffs of more than 150 employees, including all of the district’s mental health clinicians. 

Alongside the layoffs, 161 employees filed their intent to resign or retire as part of an early retirement incentive. Some people who received layoff notices may be asked to return, adding to the confusion and anxiety of district employees.

An educator sits in the audience during a Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 22. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

School closures are top of mind for leaders across California as enrollment declines statewide. School districts in San Francisco and Oakland have debated closing campuses for the past few years and three school districts in San José have closed 12 schools since 2024. A fourth San José district is considering closing up to nine elementary schools this year. 

Brandon Diniz, president of teachers unions Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday’s meeting was the first time he’s heard about the district considering closing schools. Given the district’s budget constraints, he said he’s not surprised, but that the district should have better coordinated the school closures and the layoffs. 

“It seemed to be like we were trending towards this for at least a year or two now,” said Diniz, who has been teaching in the district for 11 years. “I don’t know if I want to say [it’s] welcome, but this is definitely something people are going to be paying attention to because we’ve seen the impacts of declining enrollment.” 

Mads Realmuto, a parent who’s pushed for a discussion on school closures for months, previously told Santa Cruz Local he believed the district should have initiated the closures sooner as it may have spared some positions from cuts.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Realmuto said at the meeting. 

Many of the district’s school facilities are underutilized, according to a report covering enrollment from 2025 through 2031 presented at the meeting. Only two elementary schools — Ann Soldo and Mintie White — reach 50% capacity. 

Closing schools means consolidating resources, which trustees said will benefit students in the long run. Trustee Misty Navarro said the current school configuration is “diluting” the district’s resources, but any closure is a loss, so the decision needs to be made with as much community input as possible.

“There are no decisions that everybody is going to be happy with,” Navarro said. “We can’t afford all of these services, we need to pick and choose what we can afford and what is our primary goal.” 

Those interested in joining the committee can apply through a Google Form which will open next week and close April 3. Committee members will be selected by April 10. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that Mintie White and Ann Soldo are the only two elementary schools in the district with at least 50% utilization.

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