Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of stories on the four seats up for election on the PVUSD Board of Trustees. Look to future editions for trustee areas 1, 4 and 7.
Two candidates are vying for the seat.
Alicia Jimenez recently retired after a 24-year career with the district and is hoping to continue serving the community.
See the story on Curt Wilcox here.
Alicia Jimenez
Alicia Jimenez spent nearly 25 years working for Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Now, months after retiring, she hopes to return to the district in a new role—as a member of its Board of Trustees.
Jimenez, who is running for the Trustee Area 5 seat, said she began considering a school board campaign as she prepared to retire from PVUSD, where she worked from 2001 until 2025.
She said the idea offered a way to continue serving students and remain connected to a district.
Jimenez’s connection to PVUSD stretches back much further than her employment there.
Born in Michoacán, Mexico, she came to the United States at age 8 and attended Radcliff Elementary School, then Mintie White Elementary School and Watsonville High School. She graduated in 1988 before attending Smith College in Massachusetts on a scholarship. She graduated from Smith in 1992.
Jimenez said her appreciation for education was shaped in large part by her mother, who grew up poor in Mexico and was not able to attend school because she was expected to stay home, cook and care for her brothers, Jimenez said.
She also had to work at times to help support the family.
Her mother later taught herself to read and write and made education a priority for her daughters.
“She just made sure that we had a huge appreciation for education and for educators,” Jimenez said.
That history was part of her family’s conversations as she weighed whether to seek the board seat. Jimenez said serving on the board would be a continuation of the legacy her mother helped create.
After graduating from college, Jimenez moved to Los Angeles, where she took journalism courses, including at Santa Monica College, while working executive assistant jobs. She later returned to the Watsonville area and worked briefly in human resources at CSU Monterey Bay before joining PVUSD.
Jimenez initially worked as executive assistant to superintendents John Casey, Mary Ann Mays, Dorma Baker, Michelle Rodriguez and Heather Contreras.
She earned a master’s degree in public administration in 2012, and eventually moved into the district’s newly created public information office, where she served for eight years. Later in her career, she moved into a position connected to community schools while continuing to support district communications.
Jimenez said that her experiences have given her an inside view of the relationship among the board, administration, staff and community.
If elected, she would like to refine the way in which meetings are held.
Jimenez said meetings that stretch past midnight make it difficult for trustees to make sound decisions.
“I don’t think anyone would disagree that you cannot make good decisions at 12 or 1am,” she said. “You cannot. I think it is a disservice to everyone to do that or to expect it even of ourselves.”
Jimenez acknowledged that trustees have already been trying to reduce meeting lengths and that doing so has been difficult. She said the district could consider adding meetings if necessary rather than allowing individual sessions to run so late.
“I think it takes everyone to recognize that that’s our job to make good decisions on behalf of the students,” she said.
Jimenez said she also wants the board to maintain a focus on students and listen closely to the community. Through school board governance training she participated in as a staff member, she said, she learned a model in which the community guides the board and the board guides the district.
She said she wants to be “a very strong voice and advocate for students” and ensure that discussions remain centered on how district decisions affect them.
While Jimenez said her years with PVUSD provide institutional knowledge and familiarity with district administration and the board, she acknowledged that becoming a trustee would put her in a different position.
“I do think that I have a lot of learning to do,” she said.
Jimenez said she would rely on fellow trustees and the community as she adjusts to the role and learns how to balance its responsibilities.
“I’m looking forward to learning about that and listening to how I can be a good advocate,” she said, “for the families in the area and in our district and the students for sure.”
