Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, Inc.

335 E. Lake Ave, Watsonville, CA 95076
Phone: (831)728-6445
e-mail: admin@pvpsa.org
Our friendly bilingual staff will assist you.

Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance (PVPSA) is a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing education, training, and counseling and prevention services to students, families, and staff of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD). By helping prevent criminal behavior, gang involvement, truancy, and drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, PVPSA improves the quality of life in our community and its schools.

PVPSA was created as one of the first models of a nonprofit agency dedicated to providing services to a school district. The story began in 1984 when the PVUSD established an Office for Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Student Assistance to serve its students. Linda Perez, now executive director of PVPSA, was hired to coordinate the program, and it quickly began to make a difference. The district had been issuing five-day suspensions to students caught with drugs on campus; however, this punishment was not working to discourage drugs on campus. PVPSA developed a school-based student assistance program that kept the students on campus and in class, with support and supervision. Evaluations documented that this approach worked well with fewer repeat offenders. One of the keys to the success of the program was the participation of master-level interns from Bay Area colleges and universities.

As the program grew, a more efficient way of managing it was needed. A blue-ribbon committee of 25 community leaders and school district executives was formed, and the committee developed a proposal that created many far-reaching benefits. It recommended that the prevention programs be separated from the school district and run under the umbrella of a dedicated nonprofit agency that would focus exclusively on PVUSD. The idea was that such an organization would have greater flexibility. It could receive funds from the school district, county, state, and federal government; and it could also apply for private foundation grants. Such an organization could also serve as a conduit to bring together a broad range of stakeholders including PVUSD, law enforcement, the courts, the city, and the county.

That is exactly what has happened. PVPSA has flourished, and the students of PVUSD and the community have benefited greatly. PVPSA has become a model dedicated nonprofit organization. In fact, it has literally "written the book" on the subject, having put together a guidebook through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Board of Directors

Dr. Mary Anne Mays, Interim Superintendent,
Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD)
Michael Watkins, Superintendent, Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Antonio Rivas, Council Member, Watsonville City Council
Catherine Hatch, Assistant Superintendent, PVUSD
Doug Keegan, Trustee, PVUSD Board of Trustees
Terry Medina, Vice President, Chief of Police Watsonville Police Department
Mary Hart, Associate Superintendent
Claudia Mehl Crosetti, Board Treasurer, Business Owner
Rodney Brooks, Board President