Renaissance High School is a continuation school for students who have struggled or been expelled at other high schools. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

SANTA CRUZ >> Students of Renaissance High School, a continuation school in La Selva Beach, and Duncan Holbert Preschool in Watsonville, which serves students with disabilities, could be relocated in a plan to be considered by the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday.

“I feel like everything’s getting taken away from us,” said Maria Salazar, an 11th grader at Renaissance. “They already took our teachers, our mental health clinicians, and now they want to take our campus, and it just kind of feels like they’re breaking us down.”

The proposal was announced in a Renaissance High staff meeting and in a letter to Duncan Holbert parents on Friday.

The plan to close and relocate students from two schools that serve vulnerable populations drew swift condemnation. An online petition to oppose closing Duncan Holbert gathered more than 1,300 signatures by Monday afternoon. The petition called the plan “haphazard and rushed” and said the dispersal of students to other campuses would disrupt students’ education.

“District administration views the proposal as an opportunity to create more inclusive environments for both preschool students receiving special education services and students enrolled in alternative education programs,” district staff wrote in a press release Friday. 

A board staff report says the school closures could be finalized this summer if the board approves the plan at its June 17 meeting.

PVUSD faces a budget crisis due in part to declining enrollment and the end of one-time pandemic-era funding. In December, the board approved a controversial slate of layoffs that slashed mental health staff, teachers and other positions totaling more than 150 full time equivalent staff. 

The report cites the per student cost at Renaissance as roughly twice the district average, and points to issues with the school’s water quality that could cost roughly $3 million to address. In 2024, PVUSD voters approved $315 million in bonds to repair and upgrade school facilities.

The staff report describes the relocation of Duncan Holbert students as an improvement in equity, stability and continuity, as disabled students could then attend preschool through middle school at the same site and learn alongside general education students. 

Renaissance High has 92 students, according to the district staff report, and the Duncan Holbert campus serves more than 150 students including state preschool programs, according to the online petition.

Duncan Holbert office manager Mayra Zamudio said in an interview Friday that she worries students won’t have the same support at schools not specialized for disabled students, and that the relocation will disrupt their sense of stability. 

“Change is very big for these little ones,” she said.

Ariel Stonebloom, who teaches biology and agriculture at Renaissance, said the school’s rural campus, with a large garden, is integral to the success of students who have often struggled in traditional school environments.

In a much smaller, more urban campus, “our program is not going to work,” she said.

Renaissance High 11th grader Rebecca Buckman said the garden is a big part of the school. Buckman transferred to Renaissance several months ago and described feeling less anxious and getting along with her peers better.

“I feel like the adults in the situation may not understand how much this actually means to us,” Buckman said. “It’s helped my mental health a lot being here.”

In March, trustees voted to form a committee to study possible school closures, in response to persistent budget shortfalls. This proposal wasn’t included in that process but the district staff report indicates the proposal would be reviewed by the committee.

The proposal comes a year after the board considered moving Ceiba College Prep, a charter school, to Renaissance due a zoning dispute at Ceiba’s campus, and making room for Renaissance students at Pajaro Valley High School. 

Renaissance and Pajaro Valley High students, parents and staff raised concerns over the proposal, but ultimately PVUSD found a resolution that allowed Ceiba to stay at its Watsonville location.

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