Protesters march on district offices of P.V.U.S.D.

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Angry parents and teachers protested in front of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District claiming a lack of action on the district's part in protecting students, teachers and school staff from the effects of pesticide use on school grounds and in neighboring fields.

Angry protesters carry signs and chant slogans as school district denies need for better student protection from pesticide applications.

WATSONVILLE — Protesters led by members of the Toxics Action Coalition of Monterey Bay and the Committee for a Safe High School Site descended upon district offices of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District on March 21 to urge school officials to take action to prevent students, teachers and school staff from being exposed to pesticides.

Members of the Committee for a Safe High School Site, the Toxics Action Coalition of Monterey Bay and Pesticide Watch assemble in front of district offices of the P.V.U.S.D. to protest the district's policies relating to pesticide applications near local schools.

The protest, part of a nationwide campaign to bring attention to the threat of toxins and other dangers threatening the safety of children coincided with the release of a report coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in Falls Church VA. known as the "Child Proofing Our Communities: Poisoned School Campaign," organizers coordinated grass roots organizations and media outlets nation-wide to coincide with the release of the 70 page report.

Of particular interest to safe schools advocates locally was the inclusion of the planned New Millennium High School among 15 case studies of schools that ``either (1) will cause unnecessary health risks to children, teachers and other school personnel if built, or (2) already put school populations at serious risk."

Also included among the case studies are schools planned near a toxic waste dump in Love Canal, Niagara Falls, NY, and The Belmont Learning Complex in Los Angeles. The following is the description of the Harkins Slough school site in Watsonville on page 22 of the report:

Watsonville, CA — Surrounded by Airport, Landfill, Pesticides, Freeway
Pajaro Valley Unified School District has proposed a 2,400 student school less than 3,000 feet from the runway of the Watsonville general aviation airport, and 3,600 feet from a 134 acre county solid waste landfill, which is also a collection center for toxic and hazardous wastes. A toxic pesticide, methyl bromide, is applied presently on the proposed site and on adjacent fields. A cattle feed lot is the locale's neighbor to the west, and a freeway borders the east boundary. If built, it would put low income students of color in a school isolated in an industrial and commercial/agriculture zone far from most of their homes. Airport land use regulations would be broken. (A tragic helicopter crash claiming two lives occurred recently within a mile of the school site.) Alternative school sites are plentiful throughout this school district of 20,000 students, which has the fifth largest geographical area in California. Citizens, farmers, and city officials, however from the alternative sites, oppose the high school being placed in their area because the students of color would be bused into their neighborhood. The students and their parents believe they are victims of blatant racism."
pp.22, Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions — Center for Health, Environment and Justice, Falls Church, VA — March 21, 2001

Sylvia Previtali, leads demonstrators in a march protesting the use of pesticides near local schools at P.V.U.S.D offices on Green Valley Rd. Previtali was instrumental in alerting Poisoned Schools Campaign organizers in Falls Church, VA of the numerous dangers present at the site of the proposed New Millennium High School.

Prior to the protest, Silvia Previtali and Dan Hernandez, both members of the Committee for a Safe High School Site were interviewed by a reporter for the local CBS and FOX affiliates. During the protest, a remote truck beamed a live feed to the television studio for live updates during the stations 6:00 p.m. news block and taped packages for 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. broadcasts.

During a school board study session scheduled for the same evening, participants in the protest took turns speaking during the public comments segment of the session. One speaker reminded the board that they have been trying to get the school district to take action in favor of protecting students and teachers from the dangers of pesticides for over ten years, "and the district has done nothing.''

On the agenda for the March 28 school board meeting was a resolution requested by Mike Vasser, a teacher at Pajaro Middle School to request that the County Agricultural Commissioner take steps to stop the application of Methyl Bromide near district schools. The resolution was drafted by Supervisor John Casey and John McCann, administrator responsible for student safety at the district. That resolution had three "Whereases" describing the importance of farming to the community and only one about the "concern for the health of children in the Pajaro Valley". It actually requested that Dr. Paul Helliker Director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation do what that department had already announced that it would do.

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