WATSONVILLE >> With pink slips already being issued, Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers gathered outside of the district office ahead of Wednesday’s school board meeting to urge the board to rescind the 60 faculty cuts approved by the board in February.

Approximately 20 teachers lined the sidewalks along Green Valley Road leading into the district office parking lot, with signs in hand calling on the board to reconsider its decision to cut up to 60 positions for the 2025-26 year.

The cuts approved at the Feb. 28 meeting were certificated teaching and instructional assistant positions, while counselors, elementary intervention teachers and mental health clinicians were among the positions spared. The board had previously narrowly voted Feb. 12 not to approve any cuts.

Prior to the Feb. 12 meeting, Superintendent Heather Contreras said these cuts were put forward because many positions were created through one-time funding following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the continuing trend of declining enrollment — which is tied to funding — put the Pajaro Valley Unified School District in a bind. After the Feb. 26 meeting, Contreras said the positions added with one-time funding would likely be revisited but with even more positions facing the chopping block.

“Those weren’t the only positions added with one-time funding,” she said at the time. “Those were just some of the positions because we were trying to take a measured approach so that it wasn’t a big shock to the system.”

Brandon Diniz, president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, said a hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting but was postponed to May 28.

“We’re here to rally for our members who have contested their layoffs,” he said. “We’re here to stand in solidarity with our members who are exercising their rights and fighting the layoffs and ultimately encouraging the board to rescind the layoffs.”

Diniz said teachers who have been pink slipped are essentially stuck in limbo, as they do not currently know if they will remain with Pajaro Valley Unified School District or should seek employment at another district.

“People’s health care is on the line, their jobs are on the line, the ability to pay their rent is on the line,” he said.

Tayler Olson, a U.S. government and economics teacher at Watsonville High School, was among those who received a pink slip. It is only her second year with the district, which she suspected as the reason for why she received a notice.

“It’s been really hard and, honestly, very demotivating to come to work every day,” she said. “My students help me feel better, though. I love them.”

Olson said she loves her job at Watsonville High in general and is worried about having to pack up her things and leave for another job she loves as much.

“I have the credentials,” she said. “I could definitely find another job, but the community at Watsonville High is something I worry about finding again.”

Olson hopes the board takes another look at the budget to “find other ways to cut money rather than cutting the people that do most of the labor.”

Jodi Richardson, who teaches English and art among other subjects at New School Community Day High School, said larger class sizes will affect student learning.

“It’s already a tough atmosphere to teach, and to make bigger class sizes is just lowering results,” she said.

Richardson hopes the board would look at other ways to save money. She also expressed concerns about whether teachers could find other jobs.

“In other districts where they have trouble hiring teachers, what makes them think that they’re gonna be able to hire teachers if things change with enrollment?” she said. “We’ve already suffered through students not having consistent math teachers and all kinds of things, and it affects their education in the long run.”

Diniz hopes the board will listen to teachers’ concerns.

“Ultimately, the school board should move to rescind these layoffs and keep these jobs,” he said.