SUHSD elections pit new faces against each other, plus a 19-year-old against an incumbent.

The 2018 election is not the first time Salinas Union High School District’s trustee for Area 5, EvaMarie Martinez, has faced off against a young opponent. The first time was in 2013, when 18-year-old Kimberly Morales ran. This time around, it’s 19-year-old Anthony Rocha, an SUHSD graduate and current Hartnell College student.

Martinez says this race she’s focusing on her accomplishments. She’s done things like usher in a plan for wellness centers at nine campuses, helped oversee the building of two new schools, and avoided layoffs during the recession. “Experience matters,” Martinez says.

Rocha says he’s not lacking in that department. He’s on the Salinas Youth Advisory Commission and has been a board member in various organizations. As a product of SUHSD’s Area 5, he says what drove him to run for the board was a lack of college preparation: “I got to college and have a 10-page essay due. My final paper in high school was three pages.”

Rocha wants to see student success extend well after graduation; SUHSD accounts for almost half of Monterey County’s high school graduates, yet only 870 of their 2,353 students meet UC/CSU requirements.

Meanwhile, there will be a new board member for Area 7, where Lila Cann is not seeking re-election and newcomers Jeff Davis, an ag salesman, and longtime SUHSD teacher Kristina Szasy-Jones face off. Davis wants to bolster the district’s Career Technical Education/Regional Occupational Program. “Not everybody is cut out for college,” he says, adding there are local opportunities for all, especially in ag tech. “Those leaders are here, why aren’t we reaching out to them?”

Szaszy-Jones wants to focus on both college and career readiness, by increasing the amount of advanced-placement classes, making sure all students are computer literate and creating more career pipelines. “I’m unique in that I know this district on a professional and personal level,” she adds.