.Aptos High Principal’s Resignation Draws Scrutiny

When Aptos High School Principal Alison Hanks-Sloan sent a letter on March 16 to the Pajaro Valley Unified School District community announcing she would not be returning for the 2025-26 school year—and that her last day will be June 30—district officials said only that “she resigned.”

That statement, coming via text message from PVUSD spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez, doesn’t seem to address a more nuanced truth.

In her letter to the community, Hanks-Sloan said that “serving as the principal of this incredible school has been a true honor, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and support I’ve received from our students, families, and staff throughout my time here.”

But she does not specifically say that she resigned. Hanks-Sloan declined to comment for this story, but according to her father, Rick Hanks, Hanks-Sloan received a letter on March 6 informing her that she would be reassigned to a different position within the district, and that she would be informed of her new assignment later this year.

That decision, the letter reads, was made during the closed session of the March 5 meeting of the district’s Board of Trustees.

“She did not resign,” Rick Hanks said. “When she decides to resign, she will resign and tell people that. But right now she did not.”

Whether Hanks-Sloan resigned, or if she was reassigned, the news has drawn condemnation from many, who say that the move will cause unrest at a time already roiled by financial uncertainty from local and federal sources.

Freshman Abigail Anderson said during the March 26 PVUSD Board of Trustees meeting that she was already concerned about the potential loss of the school’s seven-period schedule—and losing electives such as art—when she got the news about Hanks-Sloan.

“I and many other students are upset by what appears to be the forced resignation of our principal,” she said. “We haven’t gotten any communication from the district about what’s happened. 

Anderson acknowledged that personnel matters are confidential, but said the murky details have left the community feeling suspicious. 

“We like our principal, and we implore the board to change its mind,” she said. “During such difficult times having a principal in our community we can trust is very valuable to us.”

PVUSD hosted a meeting Monday night to garner community input on the qualities people would like to see in the next Aptos High School principal. 

However, many who went expected to receive information on former principal Alison Hanks-Sloan’s controversial resignation. 

“The meeting is a farce,” said Karell Reader, who said she went to the meeting on behalf of her friends who have children at Aptos High and PVUSD staff members she knows. 

Reader said that it wasn’t fair to “make people give up their time” to attend a meeting where PVUSD “decision makers” were not present. This sentiment was echoed by others who said they had come to the meeting hoping to see board members or Superintendent Heather Contreras. 

The meeting, which took place in the high school’s cafeteria, saw about 50 attendees, many of whom were concerned community members and parents of Aptos High students. 

PVUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Michael Berman was the main speaker. 

After about 30 minutes of discussion, Berman passed out pieces of poster paper and multicolored markers for people to write down attributes they want the next administrator to have. The papers were collected at the end of the meeting to be shown to the faculty members who will interview candidates for that position. 

Audience members said they were displeased with the meeting’s agenda. Many wanted to know why Hanks-Sloan resigned. 

Several community members wanted to know whether there was any chance of her being reinstated as principal in the future. “Is there something we can do as a community to get Sloan back?” one audience member asked. 

Berman said several times throughout the meeting that he could not discuss the details of Hanks-Sloan’s resignation, causing some to say they felt “frustrated” and that the meeting was a “disrespect to us as parents.” 

When asked why he had been selected to host the meeting, Berman responded “I don’t know that I recall. I might’ve volunteered.” 

According to PVUSD spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez, Berman was the person responsible for this meeting because he is a cabinet member who oversees different district sites. 

“The board does not get involved in the hiring of staff other than the superintendent,” Jimenez said.

Berman said that since he is a member of the community, he found everyone’s concerns important. 

Although the aim of the meeting was to focus on Aptos High’s next principal, he had expected people to raise concerns about Hanks-Sloan’s resignation. “We knew we were going to have this conversation,” he said. 

The meeting did little to quell people’s concerns. 

Kelly Allari, an Aptos High parent, said she left the meeting “feeling frustrated, because there isn’t a clear avenue to hear community concerns.” She also felt Berman had been placed in an “unfair position” as the meeting’s host. “He had a purpose to the meeting that wasn’t what the people here were wanting to discuss,” Allari said. 

She added that she has contacted two members of the Board of Trustees to inquire about Hanks-Sloan’s resignation, but they didn’t divulge any information. She also reached out to. Contreras, but did not receive a response.

An online petition calling for her reinstatement circulated by an Aptos High parent says that Hanks-Sloan communicated with her staff about ongoing talks regarding budget cuts, layoffs and schedule changes. PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras, the petition reads, wanted that information to come from her.

 That petition had 573 signatures as of March 21.

The petition states that Contreras is therefore punishing Hanks-Sloan by removing her from the position.

Jimenez said that the petition is inaccurate, but did not say which parts she was calling into question.

PVUSD Trustee Gabe Medina says he cast the sole dissenting vote during that closed-session meeting.

“I don’t think this was done in the right way,” Medina said.

A separate petition, posted days later and signed by 238 people as of March 27, calls for a no-confidence vote against Contreras by the Board of Trustees.