Tensions are boiling over at Santa Rosa’s Montgomery High School as the community rallies behind their principal following a district-wide wave of layoffs.
The Press Democrat reports for the first time since receiving her “pink slip” two weeks ago, Montgomery High Principal April Santos is speaking out. Santos is one of 17 administrators and 120 staff members being cut as Santa Rosa City Schools attempts to bridge a $30 million budget deficit.
The move has sparked intense backlash. On Monday, more than a third of Montgomery’s staff staged a “sick-out,” forcing district office employees to step in to keep classrooms running.
While Santos says she didn’t coordinate the protest, she told reporters she is “overwhelmed” by the support from a community she helped lead through the aftermath of the 2023 fatal campus stabbing.
