Jessica Carrasco is challenging incumbent Adam Scow for the Trustee Area 6 seat on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees. in the Nov. 5 election.
She says her experience teaching, working with a local nonprofit and her time on the Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission have prepared her for the role.
Adam Scow was appointed in February 2023 to fill the vacancy left when Maria Orozco was elected to the Watsonville City Council.
Trustee Area 6 lies to the northwest of Watsonville and includes Amesti, Freedom and Calabasas elementary schools.
Jessica Carrasco
Carrasco has taught history, social justice and ethnic studies at Lakeview Middle and Watsonville High schools.
But she says that the constant changes to her schedule—and to what she was expected to teach—left her exhausted and bewildered.
“I burned out,” she said. “I couldn’t do it anymore.”
The trouble, she said, was a lack of respect for educators that drives away many teachers.
That is evidenced by the low numbers of staff, the hours teachers must work, the low pay and a system under which teachers must give up their prep time to cover other classes, she said.
In addition, teachers are frequently being asked to teach subjects about which they are not knowledgeable, she said.
With these experiences as her catalyst, Carrasco says she wants to bring change from within the district.
“I’ve been in so many staff, certificated and classified positions where I’ve seen things and thought, that doesn’t make sense to me—why is it like that,” she said.
Carrasco now works for Arte Del Corazon, a Watsonville nonprofit that supports local artists and brings art to young people through school programs, classes and summer activities.
This includes a program she created called Artbound, for which she takes high school students to art exhibits in San Jose and San Francisco.
That experience has inspired her to wonder why some schools have such programs while others do not.
She also hopes to improve the quality of school lunches, which was prompted after she saw a salad bar in the cafeteria at Live Oak Elementary School.
“I’m not going to wait for someone to hopefully do the right thing,” she said. “I’ve done so much work here already, that it’s time to take it to the next level and maybe influence policy.”
Carrasco attended Amesti and Starlight elementary schools, Lakeview Middle School and graduated from Watsonville High in 2006.
“I deeply love this community,” she says.
Adam Scow
Scow says one of his first official acts was to support a delay in giving salary increases to administrators, so the district could finalize teachers’ contracts.
“I said, ‘we need to pay our administrators well, but we need to get this teacher pay situation right,’” he says. “It worked out, and we’re in a better place because of it.”
Later that year, teachers received a 10% raise, which Scow said helped to shore up a teacher shortage by helping to recruit and retain educators. Administrators also received their raises.
“I want to keep building on the work I’ve been able to accomplish,” he said. “Our district has made some big strides in improving some fundamental problems we’ve had. We’ve been able to make our salaries and benefits competitive in the region for the first time in a long time.”
Scow points out that the district is currently in a stable financial situation, but says the continuing problem of declining enrollment will force the board to examine the budget in a way that does not affect classrooms.
A musician who plays for the mariachi quartet Rosa Azul and with the Santa Cruz Symphony, and works with the after-school music program El Sistema, Scow says he recognizes the importance of arts education. This should also include a return of classes such as drafting/industrial arts, he says.
These classes, he says, boost social skills, confidence and discipline, and keeps kids engaged in school.
He also says he will advocate to build a performing arts center at Pajaro Valley High School, which in addition to a swimming pool is the last piece on that campus.
“Our school district needs to be a place where every kid can find and develop their gifts,” he says. “Some kids are great at math, some kids are great at language arts, some kids are great at art, some are great at sports and some are good at hands-on things. I want them to have more hands-on opportunities.”
Scow is co-founder of the Campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture, and says the district should work to support environmental programs such as the Green Team at Calabasas Elementary School.
He would also support efforts to make the agriculture fields around schools organic.
Another challenge, he says, is that the district’s special education department is systematically underfunded, leaving another budgetary challenge for district leaders.
“I’ve always believed that our job as a board is to make sure that we are accountable to the public and holding the district accountable to the public,” Scow says.
