VALLEJO – Two first-time political candidates, Rizal Aliga and Irene Reynolds, are running for Vallejo City Unified School District’s Board of Education. The winner will represent Trustee Area 3, which encompasses most of East Vallejo, and replace current school board representative Glenn Amboy. Amboy is not seeking reelection after being the only person to run in the 2022 election and serving a single term.
The Vallejo Sun interviewed both candidates about their background and issues the district is facing. They discussed how they would like to handle the district’s fiscal challenges going forward, along with their perspectives on the board’s unanimous decision to close three schools last year and lay off all types of employees, including school support staff, teachers, and administrators.
Additionally, the candidates discussed the California School Employee Association accusing Vallejo’s school board of violating a transparency law — called the Brown Act — by allegedly discussing school closures in a private meeting last school year, which prompted the district to void its initial decision and re-vote on the closures.
They also discussed bonds, as the district is currently considering whether or not to ask voters to extend a bond paid for through property taxes that would be earmarked for infrastructural projects, renovations, and improvements to schools.
In response to questions the Vallejo Sun asked which came from readers who filled out our general election survey, the candidates also shared their thoughts on charter schools and censorship.
How to vote: Ballots will be mailed to voters this week, and the completed ballots must be signed and postmarked before the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Voters can also vote in person on Nov. 3, Election Day.
How we reported this story: We solicited questions from our audience and attended community forums to find out what questions mattered most to Vallejo voters. We then interviewed each of the candidates to learn more about their positions and what they plan to do in office. You can find out more about how we cover elections on our FAQ.
Rizal Aliga
Rizal Aliga currently works as a tennis coach and substitute teacher at Napa Valley Unified. From 2019 to 2022, he worked for Vallejo’s school district as a media and history teacher at Jesse Bethel High School.
Recently, he’s served on the Vallejo’s Youth Commission and the Greater Vallejo Recreational District board (GVRD), which are both appointed positions. Aliga was born and raised in Vallejo, attended Vallejo public schools, and is the youngest son of former Vice Mayor Rozzana Verder-Aliga.
Aliga is 28 years old, and he told the Vallejo Sun he’s running because he thinks people his age “deserve better representation.” He wants to push for better pay for workers to make the district more competitive with surrounding districts, and to make its schools an attractive option for folks in the early stages of their career.
“We just have to increase salaries and benefits to make it more competitive,” Aliga said.
Aliga agrees with the board’s decision to close schools last year, saying they were “tragic and unfortunate” but “necessary due to declining enrollment.”
He said, however, he thinks that “there needed to be more bargaining” as to where workers went after the closures. He also said that layoffs could have been handled differently to allow teachers and support staff to continue working for the district.
He said he wants the closed school campuses to be repurposed for community benefit. He has experience helping make that happen through his work with GVRD, which opened the Norman C. King South Vallejo Community Center on the campus of Franklin Middle School, which the district closed in 2020. He said future projects like this one could bring in much-needed revenue for the district.
When it comes to school funding, Aliga said he wants the “maximum resources to go straight to classrooms.” If more cuts become necessary to make the district fiscally sustainable, he favors reducing “administrative top-heavy spending,” spending on contractors and “anything non-essential.”
If elected, he plans to talk with each school’s administrators to brainstorm cuts.
“I’d speak with each principal or vice principal and ask, ‘What do we need to freeze or cut in terms of your salary packages or stipends, or even just field trips or travel allowances?’” Aliga said.
Aliga supports putting a measure on the ballot in a future election that would ask voters to approve extending property taxes to pay for a bond to modernize school campuses.
About the board’s alleged Brown Act violation, Aliga said, “I thought it was wrong that it happened” but that “it sucks that they got caught.” He also said he thinks Brown Act violations are widespread among public agencies, but he never had any issues with the Act when he served on the Vallejo’s Youth Commission or GVRD.
“I aim to protect against Brown Act violations and never let that happen when I’m elected,” Aliga said.
As for charter schools, Aliga said families might want to attend an independent charter school in Vallejo if they feel they offer smaller class sizes or more teachers of color. But he said the board still has a responsibility to oversee them to make sure the schools are following education law. Ultimately, he supports independent charter schools.
“I’m for those independent charter schools coming in and competing,” Aliga said. “As long as they don’t take away from what the district is doing.”
On the topic of censorship as it relates to curriculum and library books that discuss topics like slavery, sexism, colonialism and homophobia, he said that he disagrees with censorship “to a certain extent” but sometimes it’s necessary.
“Some stuff does need to be censored when it comes to extremism and hate,” Aliga said, “like for instance the Rodney King beating, stuff like that.”
He said it’s important for the curriculum to be unified so all teachers are on the same page and teaching the same thing — although teachers should be free to put their spin on it, and teach in their own style.
Irene Reynolds
Irene Reynolds recently started working as the assistant director of human resources in the Vacaville Unified School District. She’s worked for school districts for 26 years, including most recently in Vallejo. She worked for ten years as the Vallejo City Unified’s assistant director of the student nutrition department, and then for five years as its safety and risk manager before being laid off in June during a round of budget cuts.
Reynolds was born in the Philippines and mostly grew up in California. She’s lived in Vallejo since 2014.
Reynolds said she thinks that her experience in Vallejo has given her knowledge about how the district works and has helped prepare her to be a board member.
“I do have a unique perspective,” Reynolds said. “Of the other districts I’ve worked in, I have not seen a board member who had worked for the business division.”
Reynolds said she thinks when the board gets a proposed budget, they “should be able to really take a deep dive to see where the expenses are coming in and where it’s going.” Due to her experience, “it might be easier for me to take a look at something like that.”
Reynolds said that overall, the “present board and administration have done well,” particularly Superintendent Rubén Aurelio, who she called “quite an advocate for education for the district.”
She also said, however, that the closures and layoffs the board approved happened too quickly.
“Righting the ship is important,” Reynolds said. “But it could have been a slower process.”
Although Reynolds said that the district is facing a crisis, she thinks cuts have the potential to make the situation worse.
“I really do think VCUSD has been in crisis mode and continues to be in crisis mode due to declining enrollment, but just cutting their way out of the problem isn’t going to work,” Reynolds said. “The district really needs to look closely at the revenue they receive, and cuts should be as far away from the classroom as possible. That’s my main goal. When cuts hit students, it backfires.”
Should cuts occur, Reynolds said they need to be carefully considered, and the board should look at “overhead and management and unnecessary travel expenses.”
She said she thinks the district needs to look deeply at any contract it enters into with consultants or third parties.
“Contracts should be carefully considered before they’re approved,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said she wants the district to collect more data about the property tax bond before making a firm decision on whether she supports extending it. She wants the data to include community feedback.
About the board allegedly violating the Brown Act, Reynolds called it “an unfortunate situation” and that she “truly believes it was not done deliberately.” She said that re-voting on the school closures “went a long way.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, and I don’t think they should be villainized for that,” Reynolds said.
She also said she thinks the board “lost some public faith” due to the incident, and “needs to do more work in that arena.”
On the subject of independent charter schools, she said that she thinks “they’re not on equal footing,” as public schools have additional academic standards that independent charters aren’t mandated to perform to. She thinks charters also have more freedom to pick and choose which students attend their schools.
“It’s like comparing apples to oranges,” Reynolds said. “It’s not equal. It’s two different playing fields.”
Education boards in California have strict rules for how they oversee charters, including restrictions on when they can and can’t renew a school’s permission to operate. Reynolds said she plans to follow the rules, but will keep these inequalities in mind while practicing her oversight duties.
About censorship in schools over curriculum or books, Reynolds said she’s against it.
“I don’t think censoring helps our students to learn,” Reynolds said. “It’s our responsibility to get information to students and not to censor things.”
The Vallejo Education Association, the California School Employees Association, and current board member John Fox have endorsed Reynolds.
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