The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on May 20 approved a new deputy superintendent position responsible for overseeing the Curriculum and Instruction, Professional Development and Special Education departments.
Mark Herbst, most recently the associate superintendent of student support services for Modesto City Schools, also will serve as the district’s second-in-command and fill in when Superintendent Heather Contreras is unavailable. He will earn an annual salary of $228,000, plus a $6,270 stipend for holding a master’s degree, along with benefits. His contract runs through June 2029.
In separate 5-2 votes, the board approved both the job description for the new position and Herbst’s contract. Trustees Daniel Dodge Jr. and Gabe Medina voted no.
Immediately afterward, the trustees voted to eliminate roughly 100 full-time equivalent positions, including jobs in special education, mental health, teaching and academic and social-emotional counseling.
That number was reduced from nearly 160 preliminary cuts approved in December after about 75 teachers accepted offers through the district’s Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan, or SERP.
Medina and Dodge, Jr. also cast the only no-votes.
The timing of the two agenda items angered many people in the packed boardroom. Several speakers said Contreras’ decision to hire Herbst from Modesto, where she previously worked, amounted to cronyism.
“We need to say no, because the optics aren’t good,” teacher Bobby Marchessault said.
Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Brandon Diniz said creating the position was “not fiscally sound” and would have “no meaningful impact” on student success.
Medina questioned why the district did not post the job publicly.
Contreras responded that it is common for superintendents to appoint members of their cabinet directly.
“This was a recruitment, and I think it would have been disingenuous to go through a process when I knew who I wanted to have in this position,” she said.
Contreras defended the hire, saying Herbst’s “unique set of skills matches what we have seen as needs in our district, particularly with special education.”
Reading intervention teacher Laura Azzaro challenged the idea that Herbst’s success in improving student achievement in Modesto could be replicated in PVUSD.
She said Modesto schools have assistant principals, counselors and reading intervention teachers — positions PVUSD has cut.
“Are you hearing what the missing equation is?” Azzaro said. “He can’t fix all that. All the people that I just looked up can. And we’ve either been fired or laid off.”
Marchessault agreed.
“The way you keep the achievement gap from growing is by investing in teachers,” he said.
Dodge said his opposition stemmed from his support for district employees.
“Many of the teachers, guidance counselors and classified employees affected are my neighbors, former classmates and friends who live in my trustee area,” he said. “I have to live in this community, and supporting this item would destroy my credibility in the neighborhoods that I represent.”
Tensions escalated when Contreras accused Medina of contributing to employee resignations during her tenure as superintendent.
“Because of what people watch in these board meetings, and your behavior and your hostility toward people, it is very difficult to get people to apply for these positions,” she said. “So I find it very fortunate that we would even be able to have Mr. Herbst be here.”
Referring to the upcoming November election, which could reshape the board, Medina repeated a threat he has made previously.
“I love this,” he said. “Contreras, come November, you are gone, baby. You are gone.”
After the vote, Herbst addressed the audience and acknowledged concerns about the timing of his hiring alongside the layoffs.
“But I will truly tell you confidently that I believe in a short amount of time you guys will see me as a value-add to Pajaro Valley,” he said. “My career will be based on going at and serving what I consider to be the historically marginalized student groups in this district.”
