PVUSD board candidates grilled during forum

Roughly 50 people gathered in the cafeteria at Landmark Elementary School Monday night for a forum featuring four candidates running for seats on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees for the Nov. 5 election.

Jessica Carrasco, who is running against incumbent Adam Scow for the Trustee Area 6 seat, was joined  by Gabriel Medina, who hopes to unseat Oscar Soto for the Trustee Area 3 seat. 

Carol Turley is running against incumbent Georgia Acosta for Trustee Area 2.

Acosta and Soto declined multiple invitations to join the forum and were absent Monday, organizers said.

The event was sponsored by Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice, a group that formed in the wake of a board decision to end the contract.

Organizer Gabriel Barrazas said that the group is not endorsing any of the candidates.

“This is just a chance for average people to show up and ask questions,” he said. 

The forum touched on how to empower young people by including their voices in board decisions, whether the board is transparent enough and how to ensure that the voices of students and the public are heard.

They also talked about whether, if elected, they would bring back a contract with Community Responsive Education, a company that was providing training for teachers and administrators on teaching ethnic studies curriculum.

All candidates said they would support efforts to bring back the contract. Cancellation of the contract set off a firestorm of controversy, with students, teachers and community members attending board meetings and demanding they revisit the decision. 

The board’s agenda setting committee, led by Acosta, has so far declined to do so and has not discussed the issue.

The candidates also said they would support efforts to include student voices in board decisions, including allowing them to vote in school board elections.

“It’s important to include them in the conversation,” Carrasco said. “What is the point of involving them at all if you’re not going to give them any power?”

Turley agreed. 

“Students are better informed than most people who are registered to vote,” she said. 

Medina said that students should have a say in how their classes are run. He also said that, with ever-evolving technology, they have a vastly different learning style than older generations. 

When asked what they would do to ensure that community voices are heard, Turley criticized the two-minute time limit during public comment. She also said that the public should have more of a say in placing items on the agenda.

Medina agreed, and said that the district could create an app that allows for such input. He also said that the district should look for ways to include more people in the public meetings.

“We should meet people where they’re at,” he said. 

Scow said that the way the board sets its agenda is not democratic.

“We need to have board members who go above and beyond and say, ‘we cannot abuse that power,’” he said.

Carrasco said that the public should be able to evaluate the board members, as the board does for the superintendent.

In her closing statement, Turley said that she attended ethnic studies classes and spoke with teachers to inform her opinions on the controversial issue.

“I hope that you found that I’m willing to listen, to support, to advocate,” she said. “I am dedicated to public education, like the person in the position at this moment is not.”

Medina recalled his grandfather, who served as a crossing guard in the 80s after completing his shifts in the agricultural fields.

“It was amazing to me that I still have those values, and I’m happy to carry on his legacy, but not as somebody who’s helping kids cross the street, but making policy that is going to impact their lives and make it better,” he said.

Carrasco brought up her time as a middle and high school teacher in PVUSD. She expressed frustration about the business-as-usual mentality.

“I see the same people doing the same exact things without making the change the community wants,” she said. “When you are voting, think of the people who have been doing the work for a while, think of the people who you are going to trust to make the decisions who you know are going to be transparent , who you know have a track record of doing that.”

Scow, who was appointed in February 2023 to fill the vacancy left by Maria Orizco, pointed to his accomplishments while on the board. This includes a raise for teachers, and delaying a raise for administrators until the teacher contract was settled.

“I’m here to fight for the teachers, and I’m here to fight for the classified workers and we’re going to keep doing this together,” he said.