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A California school board member is banned from entering a high school campus for two weeks after school board counterparts voted to approve a stay-away letter last week.
The Office of the Superintendent prepared an agenda item to discuss Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee Gabe Medina’s confrontation with Pajaro Valley High School principal Todd Wilson. The confrontation was about Pajaro Valley High School students joining the national walkout protests against U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) on Jan. 30.
After Medina confronted Wilson, he faced scrutiny and a stay-away letter was created that stated he couldn’t access school grounds for two weeks.
During a school board meeting on February 11, Medina’s colleagues voted 4-1 agreeing to approve the stay-away letter. The vote also mandated that Medina and Wilson are required to have a mediated conversation.
The Office of the Superintendent prepared an agenda item to discuss Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee Gabe Medina’s behavior that led up to Pajaro Valley High School students participating in the national walkout protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month.
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“One of our board colleagues was at the school and got into a verbal altercation with a district employee. Staff reported that the board member was aggressive, getting in the employees’ face nose to nose…,” Board President Carol Turley said.
“The board member was not acting in his official capacity but rather as a private citizen. Based on those events, the employee and staff expressed concerns about their safety and well-being and have requested proper protections are in place,” Turley continued.
Medina said in an Instagram video that he confronted Wilson about him allegedly threatening to tow students’ vehicles for participating in the protests.
Medina received both support and criticism.
“Medina has been the only member on this board who has constantly showed up for our students,” one of the speakers said during the public comment session addressing the stay-away letter. “He sees the students as people, not as money signs. He advocates for students when they feel they have no voice.”
Two sophomores from Pajaro Valley High School, Karina Aguilar and Alyah Mendoza, read a statement together criticizing Medina’s behavior.
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Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee Gabe Medina received both support and criticism following the board considering a measure to ban the official from a high school campus after a confrontation with another employee. (YouTube Screenshot)
“Trustee Medina, you are sitting here on this board as someone that we can clearly not trust and confide in when it comes to showing up for our school and our students, specifically regarding the incident that happened on the day of our walkout,” Aguilar said. “That day you showed us students what a perfect example of immaturity and a lack of clarity can cause within our school community.”
Medina responded that students were not informed enough in advance about their legal right to participate in the protest. He issued a statement the next day expressing disappointment about the outcome. He cited California law SB 955 that allows students to leave class “provided that the pupil notifies the school ahead of the absence.”
“Last night’s vote to approve a 14 day stay away letter is disappointing, but not surprising,” he continued. “I believe the action was unnecessary and disproportionate. There was no completed investigation, no formal findings shared publicly, and no genuine attempt at mediation before escalation. That raises serious concerns about fairness and governance.”
During the Jan. 30 walkout protest, Pajaro Valley High School students initially planned to meet in the quad on campus for a rally to hear remarks from an organization called Your Allied Rapid Response.
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What was planned to be an on-campus event ventured into an off-campus gathering.
As Pajaro Valley High School students met on campus in Watsonville, CA, they were encouraged to leave to join the larger protest event that was organized to march to a rally in Watsonville’s Civic Plaza. Some of the students joined. The board took issue with criticism that the students were not encouraged to join the larger protest, claiming “student suppression.”
Pajaro Valley High School students joined the national walkout protests against U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement on Jan. 30. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The board said that school officials “cannot encourage students to leave campus” and took issue with Medina’s characterization of the district’s handling of the student-led protest.
“We are NOT what Trustee Medina represented of us on his public platforms,” the district wrote in a letter.
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The board, Wilson, nor Medina did not respond to Digital’s requests for comment.
