The youngest candidate on the Fresno Unified ballot this election says he’s running to give students a voice on the school board.
Joseph Aquino, a 19-year-old Fresno State sophomore, is challenging incumbent Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas to represent the district’s Roosevelt area on the school board. He served as a non-voting student trustee on the Fresno Unified board in 2022 as a senior at Hoover High School.
Aquino says his experience as a former student in the district gives him an intimate understanding of students’ needs. He said students lack involvement in Fresno Unified’s decision-making and district leaders don’t understand the challenges students face on a daily basis.
Aquino said he plans to focus on improving safety, mental health, and literacy, if elected.
“I’ve seen a third grader who struggled spelling her own name, that broke my heart,” said Aquino, recounting a recent experience as a teacher’s aide at a Fresno Unified summer program. “I can’t imagine me, my cousins, my little brother, not knowing how to spell your own name. It should have been caught early on.”