WATSONVILLE >> The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board’s vacant Area 7 trustee seat did not stay vacant for long. The board voted unanimously to appoint Salinas physician and Aptos parent Misty Navarro to the seat in a special meeting Monday.

Navarro, an emergency room physician at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center and parent of children who attend Aptos Junior High and Aptos High schools, was appointed to the seat previously held by Jennifer Holm, who vacated the seat earlier this month due to growing demands of her role as the director of Cabrillo College’s nursing program. Holm had served on the board since 2018.

Board President Georgia Acosta said the board received two additional applications. One had to be disqualified because the applicant no longer resided in the trustee area due to 2020 census redistricting, and the other application was from Victoria Haller, a stay-at-home mom who served as vice president and president of the Parent Alliance at Rio Del Mar Elementary School.

Both Navarro and Haller were publicly interviewed by the board and asked about the challenges facing the district. Navarro said she was not expecting to serve on the board, but the opportunity arose when she was termed out of serving on the Salinas Valley Health Foundation board and had stepped back from serving as chair of her hospital’s emergency department.

“(That) allowed me to find the space and the bandwidth to find something new to be passionate about,” she said.

Navarro was asked by Trustee Adam Bolaños Scow what she felt were the most important skills for students to have when they graduate.

“I think the most important skills for people to have when they graduate is to be able to not necessarily know all of the answers but be able to figure out how to research those answers and get the answers to the questions that they need, how to critically appraise works to understand what is a credible source and what is not a credible source,” she said. “They need to have the interpersonal skills to be able to advocate for themselves but also follow through on their work.”

Trustee Olivia Flores asked what Navarro was proud of in the district, and what she would like to accomplish for the district. Navarro liked how many community schools the district had but felt there should be more parental involvement.

“I noticed when it comes to the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) goals for the state of California and our individual LCAP (Local Control Accountability Plan) goals for this particular district, one of the things that gets not as addressed is parental involvement, and I would like to see more parental and student involvement in this district,” she said.

Trustee Daniel Dodge Jr. asked Navarro how she would respond if cornered by a parent at a grocery store and asked to support them on a hot-button issue. Navarro said she would be an empathetic listener.

“Often, I am made aware of problems that I really can’t directly affect, but sometimes people just really need to be heard,” she said. “I would probably listen and redirect that, unfortunately, that’s not my primary responsibility on the school board and that operation, and day-to-day decisions are the job of the individual schools and the superintendent.”

Vice President Oscar Soto asked Navarro what kind of data she would use if the board was faced with such issues as cutting staff or programs. Navarro said she would gather all of the relevant data like how many students would be affected by the decision, alternative programs that may fulfill the same goal and what the cost would be over several years if there are any redundancies in the system.

“I make hard decisions every day,” she said. “I’ve served on a hospital board, and I’ve served in the leadership of the hospital with the nursing unions and often a lot of conflicting agendas, and I believe in creative solutions and making sure that everybody’s heard.”

Acosta asked if there was a recent board decision she felt strongly about. Navarro cited the decision to bring school resource officers back to the Aptos High campus.

“I’m sure as a board, that was a really tough decision because I understand one population feels targeted as opposed to another population,” she said. “At the same time, we need to provide a safe learning environment for our students and making sure that everybody is safe and feels comfortable at school.”

The board largely felt that both Navarro and Haller were highly qualified but ultimately voted 6-0 to appoint Navarro. Flores, who made the motion, appreciated that she worked in Monterey County while living in Aptos and having students in the area.

“You have your pulse on both ends of our district,” she said.