Four Candidates Vie for Two Seats in Coachella Valley Unified's Trustee Area 1
COACHELLA VALLEY — Two seats on the board of the Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), in eastern Riverside County, California, will be contested in the November 3 general election, with four candidates running in Trustee Area 1; voters may choose up to two. The two seats are currently held by Valerie García and Joey Acuña Jr., and Acuña, a longtime trustee, is not seeking reelection.
Incumbent Valerie García, the board's vice president, is seeking a second term. First elected in 2022, she works as a field services specialist for the California Teachers Association. She says her priorities include keeping the district financially stable, protecting programs students need, improving school safety, and strengthening transparency and board accountability.
Norma Flores Rivera, a parent making her first bid for the board, has worked with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department since 2003. She lists her occupation on the ballot only as "parent" and did not submit a candidate statement in the county voter information guide.
Rafael Medina, a real estate agent and father of a young son, is also running for the first time. In his candidate statement in the county voter guide, he lists responsible spending, student safety, and improving school facilities as his priorities.
Loretta Perez, a parent making her first run, was among a group of families who filed claims against CVUSD alleging years of unsafe conditions tied to mold exposure at John Kelley Elementary School.
CVUSD is a K-12 district with 23 schools serving roughly 15,817 students across the eastern Coachella Valley — including Indio, Coachella, Thermal, Oasis, and Mecca — spanning Riverside and Imperial counties. The Trustee Area 2 race, where Alena Callimanis is the only candidate, is uncontested and will not appear on the ballot. (GSM, based on The Desert Sun)
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Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 从 Coachella Valley Vista Point 俯瞰科切拉谷地（资料图）。APK 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布，CC BY-SA 4.0。
