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By Miriam Raftery
April 24, 2024 (El Cajon)—The Cajon Valley Union School District’s board of trustees voted during a special meeting April 22 to appoint Emily “Lily” Schworm to fill the vacancy on the board left by the resignation of Jo Alegria.
A bilingual education teacher, Schworm previously ran for El Cajon City Council in 2012. In an interview then with East County Magazine, Schworm said she has taught in the Cajon Valley, La Mesa-Spring Valley and South Bay school districts before choosing to homeschool her children..
In her application for the position, she describes herself as an "extremely invested parent and an experience teacher" who has resided in El Cajon most of her life.
She has also been an active volunteer with Foothills Christian Church including mentoring at-risk youths, after-school groups and more.
The four members who appointed Schworm are all conservatives. Schworm ran for El Cajon’s City Council on a platform of fiscal conservatism as well as a goal of legalizing chicken ownership.
“We need to take responsibility for our community instead of saying the government isn’t doing enough,” she concludes. Spending money that taxpayers can’t afford is akin to “counting your chickens before they hatch.”
Alex Welling, a candidate running for the Cajon Valley school board against chair Jim Miller, objected to the Council convening a special meeting on only 24 hours notice to consider appointments for the vacancy, as well as convening the meeting at 4 p.m., a time many parents can’t attend.
“Such critical decisions should not be made in a special meeting during working hours; however, this seems to be a pattern of unfortunate behavior by our Board President and Superintendent,” Welling said. But Welling praised Schworm’s appointment, stating, “. I think the Board made a great decision as she is uniquely qualified having been an educator in the District" who has also raised her children in the area.
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