Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below.
Name: Roberto Garcia
Age: 35
Current job title: Engineer
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: None
City where you reside: Anaheim
Campaign website or social media: garcia4auhsd.com
What are the top two needs of your school district, and how are you prepared to address them? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
Every student and staff member should be safe in our schools. Bullying and physical assault are out of control. It takes a toll on our students’ and staff’s mental health. I will strongly support a culture where students, staff, and families feel comfortable speaking up without fear of stigma or retaliation. I’ll ensure we offer real support for victims. Students who cause harm deserve a path to change, but when the severity of harm puts someone’s life and well-being at risk, the board should act, up to expulsion, to keep every school safe.
Fiscal accountability is a big priority because every dollar we protect is a dollar that reaches our classrooms. The 2024 proposed reduction in force put 253 teachers at risk and traumatized the entire district. I plan to be proactive enough to not need a repeat situation. A close read of a recent purchase order report turned up an $8 million reporting error tied to the Measure K bond. I raised it, and the district confirmed and corrected it. Keeping a close eye on our finances is something I won’t back away from as trustee.
To you, what is the role of a school board in education? Is it driving policy, being involved in curriculum, something else entirely? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
A school board is made up of representatives elected by the local community to provide governance over the district. The primary mechanism for this is accountability. Evaluating the superintendent’s performance against the goals the board sets each year.
Day-to-day district operations run through the superintendent and should stay separate from the board’s role. This includes curriculum, which is the responsibility of credentialed educators and administrators. The board’s role comes in at the adoption stage, making sure new programs or materials meet state standards and improve outcomes. New policies should uphold the law and ensure resources actually support our students and teachers.
The public should be able to feel confident in the transparency of the board’s actions and in the district’s plan moving forward. This includes financial transparency and easy access to any board member, whether at a meeting or out in the community.
How do you feel artificial intelligence is, or isn’t, safe in the classroom? In what instances should it be expanded in the classroom? What about when it should be limited? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
AUHSD has taken real steps here, utilizing AI software that is FERPA/COPPA compliant. Even so, I’ll review every existing program closely, so nothing surprises me when I bring the tough questions forward. I want our students protected, and contracts flexible enough to redirect funds if fiscal circumstances require it.
AI has a real place in the classroom when it supports learning instead of replacing it, like personalized practice for students who are behind, or better accessibility tools for students with disabilities. It shouldn’t be used to let students skip essential skill-building, like writing a final essay or working through a problem that requires critical thinking. Those skills build a good foundation, and an autopilot mentality hurts students.
I am concerned about data privacy. Any tool used by minors needs proper vetting for what it collects and where that data is stored, governed by clear district policy, not individual classroom adoption. Any vendor we use needs a clear, traceable process for handling that data. New technology earns trust through evidence that it’s helping students learn. We can’t afford to take risks. We need to focus on fundamentals, and not luxury software.
How do you believe schools can better teach or engage students in civil discourse? How would you like to see your district tackle this issue? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
Our schools already do good work here. AUHSD is part of the California Democracy School project, a civic learning initiative.
In 2017, students at my alma mater, Savanna High School, led the effort to rebrand the school’s mascot and voted in favor of the change. It was a school-level effort where students decided the mascot’s future themselves, with real discourse and debate along the way.
I encourage that spirit because it reflects what it means to be an active citizen in our community. Listening to each other and maintaining civility is hard to hold onto when emotion runs high, but it’s a practical skill we can teach.
I plan to bring this same principle to the board, because I want every member of our community to feel heard. Anyone who comes to the board with a question or concern deserves that. I don’t want anyone to walk up to this board, make their case, and receive nothing back, no acknowledgment, no dialogue. That’s like speaking into a void. Our community deserves a trustee who leads this way, ensuring every voice carries equal weight.
Some school districts around California are recruiting teachers by building subsidized housing. How would you suggest your district could better attract — and retain — educators? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
One factor this district has to reckon with is declining enrollment. Projections are a useful indicator, but we need to understand whether this is a cyclical trend or a long-term pattern. Historically, these trends tend to cycle, and assuming enrollment will keep declining indefinitely is a mistake. Right now, the district uses a three-year funding projection; I’d push for a 10-year projection instead, so we’re planning for what’s actually coming. That will allow us to offer competitive salaries and benefits to educators who want to be part of our schools.
Subsidized housing is a serious idea worth studying, as Orange County’s cost of living is a real barrier to keeping good teachers here, and I’d want AUHSD looking at partnerships or joint agreements with the city and county that could make it work. But housing alone won’t fix retention if the budget underneath it isn’t sound.
What experiences and priorities do you bring to this role? What have you learned in prior leadership roles that makes you the person for the job? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
I’ve walked the halls of school districts including Norwalk-La Mirada USD, Capistrano Unified, and Pasadena Unified through California’s Prop. 39 energy program, finding savings for the districts and developing measurement and verification plans to prove the work held up. Today, I manage technical review teams across the U.S., constantly learning unfamiliar regulatory systems and holding vendors accountable to their own claims. I’ve already brought that same discipline to AUHSD board meetings, including catching an $8 million purchase-order error tied to Measure K.
I’ve spent years as a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, mentoring my Little through problems bigger than school and home. I understand the value of simply showing up, consistently. It’s why teachers, counselors, and classified staff are critical to our students’ success. They’re constantly around them. I remember losing my dog in high school and being comforted by Dave, the school janitor. I still think of him today, because he saw me hurting and reached out.
If your campaign had a mascot, what would it be and why? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
If my campaign had a mascot, it would be an owl. Owls see clearly in low light, notice what most people walk past, and don’t need a spotlight to do their job well. For this district to lead by example, we need to walk the walk. I want to see everything, talk through tough subjects, and spot issues ahead of time.
Our district doesn’t need more noise; it needs steadiness. An owl watches without looking away, finding problems and solutions even in difficult positions. That’s the kind of trustee I intend to be: analytical, thorough, and consistent, whether or not anyone’s watching.
Bonus question: What is the best book you’ve read this year? Explain why you found it compelling.
The best book I read this year was “Wool,” the first in Hugh Howey’s Silo trilogy.
I read all three books in a month because I genuinely could not put them down. What stayed with me most was learning that Howey originally wrote it as a short story processing grief over losing his dog. That backstory changed how I read the sheriff’s walk to “clean” outside the silo. A scene meant to be someone’s end, but written with so much restraint and humanity that it became something else entirely. Last year, I lost my 13-year-old cousin and AUHSD student Mia Mejia. She was like a daughter to me, and that scene hit harder than almost anything else I’ve read. What I took from it isn’t grim; it’s the opposite. Grief handled honestly can become something that connects you to other people rather than isolating you. That’s the mindset I carry every day running for this seat in memory of Mia: not stuck in loss, but using it as fuel to keep showing up for students, teachers, staff, and our community.
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