Pioneer Valley High principal cited for disparaging administrators and struggling students in 45-day notice issued earlier this year
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – After a public uproar at a school board meeting and a lawsuit filed against every major news outlet in northern Santa Barbara County, we now know why a 45-day notice was issued to Pioneer Valley High School Principal Shanda Herrera.
According to the 45-Day Notice, Pioneer Valley High's Principal was cited for unprofessional conduct for emails and texts with District staff where she informed the school district she would not accept certain students - specifically English Learners (EL) and Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP)- to protect the graduation rate at Pioneer Valley High.
"In response to the public records request, the Court denied Ms. Herrera’s application for a protective order to prevent the release of the 45-Day Notice of Unprofessional Conduct and its attachments and ordered the release of the requested documents with certain redactions," stated Santa Maria Joint Union High School Public Information Officer. "It’s unfortunate we reached this point because personnel records are almost always confidential."
Herrera has worked as Pioneer Valley High's principal for the past 13 years and her school's graduation rate of 96.5 percent was higher than any other high school in the district details Education Data Partnership.
This April, Herrera sent an email to multiple District employees (individual identities were redacted in the provided document but their district emails are shown) informing them of the following:
[Redacted Name] and [Redacted Name]
I am not allowing any mild/mod students to come back for a 5th year unless they are SH and in [Redacted Name], [Redacted Name], or [Redacted Name]'s classes. We are too impacted and I don’t allow it for EL [English Learners] kids either. Please make sure that is the message you are sending during IEP [Individualized Education Program] meetings. If you have kids that will qualify for adult school, please get with [Redacted Name] and see what info [Redacted Name] conveyed about getting sped kids off our enrollment so I don’t take the hit on grad rate for class of 2024.
Shanda Herrera (Attachment 2 of Herrera's 45-Day Notice of Unprofessional Conduct)
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District also included a text message sent to the District phone number of a District employee (Attachment 3 of the 45-Day Notice) where she wrote, "Things have changed a lot. [Redacted Name] ready to retire [Redacted Name] a speddie [Redacted Name] is full of himself [Redacted Name] doesn't know which way is up ... I can quit this F'Ed up organization that used to be my home".
Additionally, the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District noted that in Herrera's 2021-2023 performance evaluation, she had received "feedback on similar behavior" though that entire exhibit was redacted in the version provided to Your News Channel and linked in this article above.
When Your News Channel learned Herrera would retain her job, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Superintendent Antonio Garcia issued the following statement about the 45-Day Notice:
Tonight in closed session the board conducted a confidential, closed session related to personnel. There is no reportable action. A 45-day notice is a serious written warning to a credentialed employee. That requires them to improve their conduct or face serious consequences. Principal Herrera remains a district employee and at no point has been recommended for termination. There have been no recommended changes related to principal assignments for the 2024-25 school year.
Your News Channel reached out to legal representatives for Herrera in her lawsuit filed against the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and Santa Maria-area media outlets, including Your News Channel, and have not received a response.
