Quick Take
Pajaro Valley Unified School District's governing board hired Victoria Knutson, currently Newark Unified's chief business officer, to fill the CBO role at a $248,418 salary — the district's fourth person in that position in roughly three years, as trustees hope her experience will help guide upcoming school closures.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District has a new chief business officer after its former CBO resigned this summer.
The PVUSD governing board hired Victoria Knutson, the chief business officer at Newark Unified School District, during a meeting last week.
For the past several years, as the district has faced critical challenges and decisions to stabilize its budget, the district has struggled to retain its CBO. After Clint Rucker left the district in the fall of 2023, Kim Sims and Jenny Im served as interim CBOs until Im was hired permanently in July 2024. Im then resigned in March 2025.
In September 2025, the district hired Gerardo Castillo, who about eight months later, in June, announced his resignation. He said he took a position in Sacramento City Unified School District.
PVUSD trustees said they’re thankful that Knutson is joining them and look forward to working with her.
Trustee Olivia Flores added that while she agrees that the salary the district is offering Knutson is high ($248,418), she said it’s necessary for the challenges of the job and retaining a qualified employee.
“We all knew that we had an all-star CBO – someone who chose to work for PVUSD even though he could make significantly more money in other districts,” she said, referring to Castillo. “I agree that this is a significant price tag for this position; however, we have to acknowledge the reality of the market.”
Kit Bragg, PVUSD’s assistant superintendent of human resources, said during the meeting that Knutson has two decades of experience with California public education finance and seven years in private sector banking. Most recently, she served as assistant superintendent of business services and chief business officer at Newark Unified School District, and prior to that served the same role at Evergreen School District in Santa Clara County.
Flores and Trustee Joy Flynn both commented that it was important to have a CBO who will help the district as it enters the next phase of stabilizing its budget: school closures.
“That was a big question for me was if they have experience with school closures,” said Flynn. “I hope that she is received and trusted so that the harder decisions can be made.”
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