The District began by serving 26 students from kindergarten through 8th grade in its first facility set up in two rooms above a drug store in Malaga Cove Plaza.
Finally, in October 1960, voters elected to form a unified school district.
Due to budget shortfalls, the District cut student programs and started to lay off its teachers in 1975.
Through 1979, the District made further reductions in its staffing, closed facilities and cut student programs including sports.
[4] As of October 2016, the PVPUSD serves the four cities on the Peninsula as well its unincorporated areas with enrollment of approximately 11,500 students.
In 1992 84.5% of relevant voters voted approved Proposition Z to move the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) portion of Rancho Palos Verdes to PVPUSD but Stephen E. O'Neil, a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, blocked the transfer.
[6] The district is headed by a superintendent - Dr. Devin Serrano - and governed by a five-person, publicly elected school board.