Ousted PVUSD Superintendent Gets Job Back After Public Outcry

WATSONVILLE, CA — The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board walked back its decision last week to end Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez's contract early.

A subsequent vote came Sunday, after the board decided Wednesday on a 4-3 vote to terminate Rodriguez, with trustees Georgia Acosta, Daniel Dodge Jr., Jennifer Schacher and Oscar Soto voting in favor of her removal. Kimberly De Serpa, Jennifer Holm and Maria Orozco cast the dissenting votes.

The PVUSD community erupted with an outpouring of support for Rodriguez, who told The Pajaronian that she was not allowed to attend the closed-door session where the board decided on a 4-3 vote to terminate her. She was not given a reason for her dismissal and the board did not address its reasons after the public portion of the meeting began, the paper reported.

More than 2,200 people signed a petition to bring Rodriguez back and demand transparency regarding the reasons why she was terminated in the first place. If not, petitioners supported a future recall effort for the four board members who sought Rodriguez's removal.

"They provided no warning, no forum for public comment prior to termination, or information as to why Dr. Rodriguez was terminated," wrote Megan Jacobsmeyer, a Mar Vista Elementary School library media technician who posted the petition on Change.org.

Actor Edward James Olmos was among those who spoke up in support of the superintendent, Lookout Santa Cruz reported. The actor, who works with PVUSD students as part of his program Youth Cinema Project, said he'd long known the superintendent, who had his "utmost respect and admiration," the news site reported.

A Sunday night statement from Rodriguez and the board thanked the community for its involvement, and said the four board members who voted for her dismissal "were swayed by the outpouring of support for Dr. Rodriguez." The statement thanked Rodriguez for her willingness to return.

"If there is a lesson to be learned in the events of this last week, it is that to be human we will occasionally make mistakes, but to be a strong human is to acknowledge and correct our mistakes," the statement read. "Tonight, our Board showed its strength by correcting a mistake. We ask for the community’s understanding to allow these lessons to come to fruition with grace."

As PVUSD superintendent, Rodriguez is responsible for the education of some 20,000 students.