Several dozen Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers and staff were joined by community supporters early Tuesday morning at The Towers in Watsonville to rally against teacher layoffs that were approved on Dec. 11.
PVUSD administrators declined to comment.
School districts typically cannot comment about ongoing negotiations.
The rally, which took place in front of the PVUSD Green Valleuy Road headquarters, follows the Feb. 25 PVUSD Board meeting when over 150 teachers, students and community members presented a petition with more than 1,000 signatures before walking out chanting, “Put students first.”
On Tuesday morning PVUSD President Brandon Diniz said timing is now at a critical juncture, as the state-mandated March 15 deadline for sending layoff notices to teachers drawing near.
Ongoing negotiations, he said, have not been successful.
“We’re saying that our students can’t afford to wait,” he said. “We started negotiations at the very beginning of this school year, and it’s time for the district to start making movement and actual proposals so that we can get somewhere and not just be stuck spinning our tires.”
