Why this matters
The district would have been required to spend more than $2 million on a special election to fill the vacant board seats. Board members decide the district’s budget and policies.
Two new members now sit on the Chula Vista Elementary School District board, filling vacancies left by the November election.
Trustees unanimously voted to appoint to the board Keren Ramirez Dominguez and Jessica Tolston, both parents of students in the district. While trustees are elected at large and serve the entire district, Dominguez will hold Seat 1 and Tolston will hold Seat 5.
Their appointments earlier this month were not without contention — for more than an hour, trustees squabbled over their picks, raising concerns over perceived grievances with some candidates.
“We will go to a special election if that’s what the board is deciding,” board President Francisco Tamayo said. “But when the cuts have to be done to pay for that, we all have to own them.”
It took multiple rounds of voting before the board reached a compromise, avoiding paying what could have been more than $2 million to hold a special election.
Two board seats were left vacant after the departure of two trustees: Cesar Fernandez, who represented Seat 5, was elected to the Chula Vista City Council, and Tamayo switched board seats after successfully challenging incumbent Kate Bishop for Seat 4.
Dominguez and Tolston were selected from a pool of seven finalists, all of whom the board interviewed in a public meeting. The district received 21 applications for the vacancies.
The district is the fourth-largest in San Diego County, serving more than 28,000 students across 50 schools. As inewsource previously reported, it joins other districts in the region facing budget shortfalls. School officials projected a $34 million deficit for their 2024-25 budget.
The five-person board meets monthly and approves the district’s budget and policies.
Here’s more on the new board members appointed.
Keren Ramirez Dominguez, Seat 1
Dominguez has 16 years of volunteering and other community involvement in Chula Vista. For the past six months, she has worked as a noon duty supervisor for the district. She also has two children who attend the district.
Dominguez said she’d work to establish “open communication” as a board member.
“I want parents to know that they can come up to me and they can share what is troubling them,” she said during her interview.
Dominguez unsuccessfully ran for a board seat in 2022.
“The legacy I want to leave as a board member, I want to make sure that the children of the next generation know that they will have the building blocks to live to their fullest potential,” she said.
Jessica Tolston, Seat 5
Tolston is a military veteran who works for the Department of Homeland Security. She has been a PTA member since 2022 at Arroyo Vista Charter School, where her son attends.
Tolston, who was married to a Marine, said she understands “the unique challenges” that the district’s military families face.
“I am passionate about advocating for these families and making sure that every student, regardless of background, has access to the resources they need to thrive as my son has,” she said.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
