Editor’s note: Three new candidates have tossed their hats in the ring for seats on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees districts 2, 3 and 6.
Those seats are currently filled by Georgia Acosta, Oscar Soto and Adam Scow, respectively. None of the incumbents have so far announced their intentions to run again, according to Santa Cruz County’s elections website.
In the first of three stories regarding the candidates, Carol Turley talks about her campaign for Dist. 2. Future stories will feature interviews with Gabriel Medina, who is running for Dist. 3, and Jessica Carrasco, who is looking to take the Dist. 4 seat.
Dist. 2 incumbent Georgia Acosta did not respond to a request for an interview.
Carol Turley
If elected, Turley says she would first and foremost support the district’s teachers.
“We have so many amazing teachers in this district, and we should let them practice their craft,” she said. “And how do we do that? We support them. We get them what they need.
She would also look to improve the interpersonal relationships on the board. This includes a series of agreements among the trustees regarding how to treat the public and each other.
“The things I’m most interested in is good governance, making sure we’re not violating the Brown Act, making sure that we’re open and transparent,” she said. “And making sure we are showing respect and appreciation to the educators who we depend on. And showing respect to members of the public, students, and faculty members who come to talk to the board, even if you don’t agree with them.”
The Brown Act is a law that governs how public meetings must be run.
Turley would also look to focus the board’s attention on education.
“It seems like we’re spending a lot of time spinning our wheels on things that aren’t helping students in the classroom,” she said. “We should also show our appreciation to educators, making sure they’re ready to do their jobs and feel supported.”
Turley would support the state law that mandates free school lunches for students, and would work to bolster the nutritional value of the food served in cafeterias.
In addition, she would maximize partnerships with organizations that provide physical education to students.
We just want to make sure that people are moving and getting their blood flowing so that when they’re back in the classroom they’re ready to go and they’re feeling good and strong and healthy,” she said.
Turley also said she wants to support the district’s ethnic studies program.
That’s a sentiment echoed by several teachers, students and community members who have spent months protesting a Sept. 13 board decision to cancel the contract of a company that was providing ethnic studies training to educators and administrators.
That decision, she said, was too hastily made.
“I feel like some of [the board members] are making decisions on something that’s important for students by just listening to what a few people may have said about it without having looked at it themselves,” she said.
She says the ethnic studies curriculum should reflect the students ethnic identities.
“If students see somebody in what they’re reading that they can identify with—whether it’s somebody who looks like them or has similar experiences or similar interests—the reading’s going to be better,” she said. “Let’s give them what they need to do so they can feel connected so they can learn.”
Turley says that more should be done to prepare students for life after high school. While many graduates move on to four-year universities, just 26% graduate, she says.
A possible solution, she says, is exposing them to as many potential careers as possible.
“If you pick up skills and learn how to do things, there are lots of opportunities and lots of different kinds of things a person can do,” she said.
Turley has worked for the Pajaro Dunes Association for 42 years, starting as a weekend receptionist and working in several positions including the fire brigade and assistant manager. As accountant, she manages a budget in excess of $2 million. She also bargains with Teamsters unions and handles emergency response.
“I’m good with people regardless of where they come from and who they are,” she says. “I deal with a lot of conflicts among neighbors and try to help them communicate and help them come to a common ground.”
As part of the Watsonville Rotary Club, Turley mentored students in the Watsonville High School Interact Club, and worked with Watsonville High and exchange students.
When she was President, the club initiated construction of soccer fields at Freedom School and the installation of internet service at the Buena Vista Migrant Community.
