Since Greenfield High School opened its doors in 1999, residents have been asking for all of its TK-12 schools to be part of the same district.
Nearly 30 years later, this goal is one step closer to becoming a reality. The California State Board of Education unanimously approved district consolidation in South Monterey County on July 8 and directed the Monterey County Superintendent of Schools to hold an election on Nov. 3.
Monterey County Superintendent of Schools Deneen Guss says they want the process to move forward as soon as possible since uncertainty hinders district planning and makes it challenging to retain and recruit personnel. Currently, there are three school districts: Greenfield Union and King City Union, both TK-8, and South Monterey County Joint Union School District, which operates four high schools, including Greenfield and King City high schools.
Now it is up to the voters to decide if they want to merge three school districts into two TK-12 school districts. Voters in Greenfield and King City, as well as nearby rural communities such as San Lucas and San Ardo that feed students to King City High School, will decide.
The unification petition has been ongoing for the past decade and has faced some challenges along the way. An effort failed in 2018 after the Monterey County Committee on School District Organization rejected the idea, citing financial challenges. It reached the state level and gained traction in recent years with community meetings and presentations with the impacted districts.
It failed to proceed once again in 2025 at the state level, citing similar reasons as the county committee, such as unpaid loans from the South Monterey County district. The state referred it back to the county level.
In July, however, the tide changed after the consolidation idea expanded to include three districts, instead of two, adding King City Union. (Guss says Greenfield residents have shown strong support for district merging but in King City response has been quieter.)
“It’s more fiscally responsible to have one district where we can really align all of the resources to the needs that our students have,” GUSD Superintendent Laura Cortez says.
Guss, who moved to the area when Soledad and Gonzales school districts underwent a unification process, says there are several benefits including all students having the same calendar. “You don’t have to readjust to new boards, new policies, new schedules,” Guss says, noting that sometimes parents make inquiries to the wrong school districts.
If voters pass consolidation, the process would take 18 months. During that time, the parties will negotiate division of assets, liabilities and staffing. Classified staff members would be guaranteed to keep their positions for at least two years, Guss adds.
The new districts would operate starting the 2028-2029 school year under new names Greenfield Unified School District and King City Joint Unified School District, eliminating SMCJUSD.