The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board voted Wednesday night to renew contracts that will keep school resource officers in three high schools across the district. The two items passed 4-2 with trustees Jessica Carrasco and Gabe Medina voting no. Trustee Joy Flynn was absent.
Watsonville Police Department will provide two part-time officers at Watsonville High School and Pajaro Valley High School, and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office will provide one full-time deputy at Aptos High School.
Wednesday night’s meeting heard from both supporters and opponents of the contract from across the district.
Opponents say that the presence of armed, uniformed officers creates a climate of fear for many students. At the beginning of the meeting, trustee Gabe Medina read the names of people killed by ICE, saying the board should seriously consider the fear experienced by immigrant communities when voting on the item.
“Tonight as we consider bringing SROs onto our campus we cannot separate that decision from what our students and families are experiencing,” he said.
Those in support of the item pointed to the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Gerardo Sarabia Aguilar at Aptos High School on August 31, 2021. The stabbing occurred only months after the board decided to remove SROs from campus and caused the board to reverse course and reinstate the program.
Several trustees brought up the annual SRO survey, which typically shows high student support for officers on campus.
“The survey results are pretty clear that students—and more so parents and staff—want SROs on their campus.” said Board President Carol Turley. “I feel badly that people feel unsafe on their campuses. But, people feel afraid and feel [SROs] will make them safer.”
Parents and teachers who attended the meetings also say they are worried that SROs would not be paired with mental health clinicians as they previously have been. Mental health clinicians have faced several rounds of layoffs in PVUSD over the past two years.
Emily Halbig, who teaches at Cesar Chavez Middle School, shared her concerns with the board Wednesday night.
“Last year you laid off 15 counselors and eliminated every mental health clinician,” she said. “Tonight you’re prepared to approve contracts for school resource officers. Somehow you found money for law enforcement, but not for mental health.”
Before passing the motion, the board added a loose stipulation that said they would pursue a plan to pair SROs with mental health clinicians, though they did not specify what that plan would be or how mental health clinicians would be sourced.
How the agreements work
The Watsonville agreement provides one part-time officer at Watsonville High and one at Pajaro Valley High from Aug. 10, 2026 through June 4, 2027. The district will reimburse the city up to $152,053 for the school year. The officers will work approximately 27 hours per week, with schedules tailored to each campus.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s agreement extends the existing contract through June 30, 2027 for a deputy assigned to Aptos High School. Trustees added a stipulation that they would renegotiate with the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s office for a lower price, after a community member brought to the meeting that Soquel High School pays a lower percentage, 50 percent, than the 75 percent stated in the contract serving Aptos High School.
