Pajaro Middle School to stay closed for the remainder of the school year.

The only school in Pajaro, which serves 450 students, will remain closed for the rest of the school year. Classes end on June 2. 

At least 50 percent of the school suffered damages (a more precise evaluation will be forthcoming after assessors are able to evaluate the state of the school) during the flooding that displaced most Pajaro residents on March 11 after the Pajaro River levee broke in the middle of the night. 

PVUSD is a school district in two counties, Santa Cruz and Monterey. Most schools are in Santa Cruz county and the district's main offices are in Watsonville. Only three PVUSD schools are in Monterey County, including Pajaro Middle School and the Ohlone and Hall District elementary schools. In total, the district serves over 18,000 students; of those, 1,600 students were impacted in some way by the flooding in the Pajaro Valley.

Pajaro Middle and Ohlone were the most impacted by the flooding since a large population of students at each school live in Pajaro. Hall District Elementary, which is in Las Lomas, suffered lesser impacts because of road closures that increased commute times and traffic. 

Michell Rodriguez, Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s superintendent, says there is still work to be done to understand the true flood damage to the school's buildings. “Because even though it looks minimal, we have to ensure that there is no health hazard, whether it's airborne, or mold in the flooring or the walls,” Rodriguez says. 

Pajaro Middle School students are now attending Lakeview Middle School, outside the Watsonville city limits. Currently, 90 percent of students who were displaced during the evacuation orders are attending school, Rodriguez says. PVUSD cleaned empty classrooms and divided larger rooms and set temporal classrooms, installing walls, televisions and projectors in order to accommodate the Pajaro Middle students in 19 classrooms. Students attend a different campus, but their teachers are still the same. 

Tony Thurmond, California state superintendent of schools, visited Pajaro Middle Schools and toured the area on March 24. Thurmond and his team provided gift cards, books, food and clothing for 1,000 Pajaro families. Thurmond said during a press conference his office has reached out to state and federal representatives to obtain resources for affected families. “We'll do the part that we can to help expedite those resources, who don't have direct control over what those agencies do,”  Thurmond said. 

During the first days of school after the levee broke, attendance of Pajaro Middle School students at Lakeview was at 50 percent. Rodriguez says the district made individual calls to parents to make sure students will return to classes, in person or through independent studies, and to provide them with services. “School isn't just a location for learning. We talked about safety, security and services,” Rodriguez adds.