New Pajaro Valley Unified school board president surprises with management style

Several of the seven Pajaro Valley Unified School District board members were noticeably confused during their meeting earlier this month when their new president, Carol Turley, repeatedly interrupted them, telling them they were “off topic.”

Board members Joy Flynn, Jessica Carrasco, Gabe Medina and Daniel Dodge Jr. saw themselves either interrupted by Turley or soon began to preface their questions about agenda items with statements like, “Correct me if this question doesn’t go.” 

Dodge asked about school consolidation during a discussion of the district’s budget status, to which Turley responded, “That topic also is not related at this moment.” Medina followed that exchange quickly, responding loudly with frustration, “Can we just go into public comment? Because you’re restricting anything that we’re saying right now, and I just don’t understand what we’re doing.” 

In becoming board chair earlier this month, Turley takes the reins of the board after more than a year of chaotic, emotional and highly contentious meetings – often made longer, nearly all agree, by tangents or infighting among trustees. One meeting lasted nearly eight hours. The board continues to face highly impactful decisions, including two recent rounds of layoffs of more than 100 positions to balance the budget. Soon, it will have to consider closing schools due to declining enrollment. Turley now sees it as her job to keep the trustees on track so they can better confront those challenges. 

Turley assumed her post on Dec. 11. Earlier in that meeting, board members debated the selection of a new president to succeed Olivia Flores, who had served in the role this past tumultuous year. Board members Flynn, Medina and Misty Navarro had each nominated themselves to be president during an hourlong debate. Ultimately, they selected Turley, with all voting for her except for Medina. After her selection, Turley led the rest of the six-hour meeting. It ended in chaos as Turley cleared the room prior to a vote on layoffs – preventing the remaining community members from commenting on the staff reductions.

That brought a second, previously unplanned meeting. On Dec. 22, the board held a special meeting to re-vote on the layoffs in order to provide the community the opportunity to offer public comment. During that meeting, Turley told the crowd of about 70 people that “this is a board that values public comment.”

After the board heard comments from about 26 speakers, who all opposed the reductions, the trustees then re-voted by majority to approve the layoffs again. 

Lookout sat down with Turley several days after her selection to talk about her new position.  

She said she nominated herself for primarily one reason: “I feel like I have a better chance of bringing a team together and getting to where we’re functional than I could see the others doing at this moment in time.”

Turley, 63, grew up in Watsonville, attended PVUSD schools and has been the general manager of the Pajaro Dunes Association, a homeowners association, since 1999. Her dad and stepmom both taught in the district their entire careers, and her two daughters graduated from PVUSD schools. 

Talking with Lookout, she apologized to the people who didn’t get to speak at the Dec. 11 meeting. 

“I don’t feel like I did all that well — maybe that’s because I’m hyper-critical,” she said. “There were times when I kind of lost control, and maybe I took longer to bring things back then I should have.” 

Turley acknowledged that she did ask board members if their comments were related to their agenda items as a way to remind them of prior violations of the Brown Act, the laws that require local elected bodies to hold open meetings and not discuss issues behind closed doors.

“I started off kind of in the beginning [asking], ‘Is this on topic? Was this on agenda?’” she recalled. “We’ve spent a lot of time dealing with Brown Act violations – some of them bona fide.”

In June, the board overturned two votes from its April meeting after a community member accused it of violating the Brown Act. Turley said by reminding board members to stay on topic, she hoped to prevent any future violations. 

Teachers union president Brandon Diniz told Lookout the day after the Dec. 11 meeting that although he thought Flores “wasn’t a very good president,” he was stunned to see Turley clear the room and surprised at how she interrupted the trustees, describing her as “authoritarian.” 

“Carol absolutely destroyed the confidence that we have in her as a bargaining unit who walked to get her elected, who fought to put her in her seat,” Diniz said. “We are absolutely shell-shocked right now to see this. I described it to one of my colleagues as if you’re watching WWE or a soap opera – she took a heel turn last night and played the role of the villain.” 

Turley said she didn’t think her style differed from her predecessor, Flores, who during her tenure hadn’t cleared a room. 

Thinking back on the board’s challenges this year, Turley said she thinks it has been struggling because each board member is passionately trying to solve the district’s problems. 

“We are passionate people in a district with a lot of problems, and when you put passion and frustration together, it can look dysfunctional,” she said. “But education is important, and we’re going to keep at it.”

She said she hopes to bring the board members together as a unit to move forward with the common goal of improving student outcomes. In addition to unifying the board, she wants to develop community-inspired goals and work with Superintendent Heather Contreras to implement them. 

“It’s hard to expect someone to do what you want them to do if you’ve never actually said what you want them to do,” she said. 

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