Written by Julianne Foster
Crystal Trull is the Republican Party of San Diego County’s endorsed candidate for San Diego Unified School District Board of Trustees, District A.
Crystal has lived in San Diego since 1976 and grew up in District A when her family first moved to University City in 1979. She attended Spreckels Elementary before she moved to Mira Mesa in 1983 and attended Mason Elementary, Wangenheim Junior High, and Mira Mesa High School. She earned her Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science from San Diego State University and later a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership, and finally a Ph.D. Degree in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego.
She has been married for 23 years, and has three children who attend schools within San Diego Unified School District. Trull is a part-time professor teaching graduate level courses at the School of Leadership and Sciences at the University of San Diego and Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego. She is a current board member of the Holmes Elementary and Marston Middle School Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), School Site Councils (SSC) and School Governance Teams (SGT) at both schools. Crystal is a former board member for the Citizen’s Review Board on Police Practices for the City of San Diego, the Clairemont Town Council, and also several nonprofit organizations. In the past she has worked with organizations like the American Red Cross San Diego/Imperial Counties, MANA de San Diego, UCAN, and the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
“I had amazing teachers who inspired me to do more and instilled a love of learning,” Trull explained. Her love for learning and experience in school is part of what drives her to run for this position. She is also unconvinced that the district is living up to its full potential in the education they provide. “And, it’s because of my children, and their classmates, that I’m running for school board,” she added.
As a parent and teacher, Crystal understands the importance of involving families in the district’s decisions, which is why she wants to be accessible and accountable to them. Earlier this year, Trull put together multiple surveys to hear directly from parents as their children were forced into remote learning for the first time. This leadership and transparency is missing on the SDUSD Board, but Crystal is exciting to bring this necessary change.
“The more I learn about the San Diego Unified School District, the more I am convinced that we can do better,” said Trull. “Doing better isn’t just about graduation rates. It’s about the quality of a student’s education and if they are able to use their education to make the most of opportunities for success.”
For more information about Crystal’s campaign, visit CrystalSDSchoolBoard.com.
