Jon Petersen

Governing Board Member of the Escondido Union High School District

Jon Petersen is a third-generation Escondido resident who comes from a family of educators who have long nurtured Escondido’s schools. His father Pete is a retired teacher from Conway Elementary School, and his mother Connie is a retired school site secretary from the Escondido Union School District. Growing up in Escondido, Jon attended Juniper, Oak Hill, and Miller elementary schools, Del Dios Middle School, and San Pasqual High School. After earning his Bachelor of Arts at San Diego State University, Jon returned to his alma mater, San Pasqual High School, to teach English and journalism. Later he joined the “dream team” of educators who opened Valley Center High School. Jon currently serves as the Chief Business Officer for the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District.

During his term of service on the Board of Trustees of the EUHSD, Jon has prioritized educational opportunities for all students, focusing not only on a solid college preparatory program but also on the expansion of career-technical education that makes school relevant for everyone. Jon prioritizes fiscal responsibility, understanding that the citizens and taxpayers of Escondido expect him to be a good steward of the resources allocated to the school district, leveraging those resources for the maximum benefit of students by ensuring that dollars are mostly directed to the classroom and not administrative offices. Jon also puts a high value on character education and citizenship, believing that a core mission of public education is to create citizens who put service above self by developing kindness, compassion, and selflessness as core virtues.

While Jon spends most of his time on educational endeavors–in both his vocation as a cabinet-level administrator and his avocation in public service as a school board member–he also enjoys serving in his local church as a lector and participant in charitable outreach. Jon is also a member of Kiwanis International, a global community of clubs, members and partners dedicated to improving the lives of children one community at a time.

While Jon dedicates much of his life to improving education and the lives of children in our community, his greatest responsibility and greatest joy is being a husband and father. Jon met his wife Cristina Muñoz while studying Spanish in Mexico, and they are raising two high-school aged sons, Christopher and Nico, in north central Escondido. Cristina provides support to Escondido school children as a bilingual social-emotional, character-education provider through the Vista Hill Foundation, and Christopher and Nico enjoy CIF water polo and swimming when not hitting the books as dedicated scholars.