The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold a special study session on March 28 to discuss the district’s ethnic studies curriculum, the board voted Wednesday.
The discussion is not an action item, and there will not yet be a vote to reverse an earlier decision to cancel the contract with Community Responsive Education (CRE), a company that provides ethnic studies training for teachers and school district administration.
Still, the vote was a significant step in a saga that began with the October 2023 vote not to renew the contract.
It is also the first—and most unambiguous—indication of how the new board members will govern differently than their predecessors. Of seven seats, five members are newly elected or appointed.
The reason for the board’s rejection dates back to a 2019 pilot ethnic studies curriculum that was developed for the California Department of Education, portions of which were deemed anti-semitic by members of the Jewish community, educators and lawmakers.
One of the authors of the rejected curriculum, Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, also created CRE.
While the ethnic studies courses are still being taught at the district’s three comprehensive high schools, the cancellation meant that there was no ongoing training for educators or administrators.
Since the decision, hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community members have attended board meetings, demanding the contract be renewed.
Watsonville High school history teacher Bobby Pelz said he was glad the issue will be discussed, but that he was disappointed that the contract will not be reconsidered.
But he said that that won’t stop him and others from continuing to attend the meetings.
“We are going to bring back CRE, because if you haven’t figured it out yet, we aren’t going anywhere,” Pelz said.
Trustee Misty Navarro said that everyone agrees that ethnic studies is important.
“I think there are so many stories in Pajaro Valley of communities that have been marginalized and discriminated against,” she said. “Those stories need to be shared and taught.”
Trustee Danny Dodge, Jr. said he wants to see many cultures represented in the district’s ethnic studies curriculum, such as Chinese, Native American groups such as the Ohlone and Filipino.
He also wants to see history of the Japanese internment, the Monterey cannery strikes and Mexican history.
“Watsonville is about everybody,” he said.
