2 North County school boards appoint new members. Here’s who they are
Two North County school districts have appointed new members to serve on their board for interim two-year terms.
The Atascadero Unified School District board of trustees chose to appoint Matt Pennon on Sept. 28, and swore him in on Oct. 4. The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District board chose Kenney Enney on Oct. 4 — he will be sworn in on Oct. 11.
The two members will serve on their respective boards until the November 2024 general election.
Pennon replaces Mary Kay Mills, who resigned from the Atascadero school board in September, while Enney replaces Chris Bausch, who was appointed to serve on the Paso Robles City Council in August.
Pennon was chosen from a field of nine candidates. The board voted 4-2 to appoint him, with trustees Corinne Kuhnle and Terri Switzer dissenting.
He moved from Los Alamos in Santa Barbara County in 2021 with his husband and three young kids. Pennon said he works for the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services in the Our County Our Kids program, and for the San Luis Obispo County Department of Social Services as a parent liaison.
“It’s important for me to be involved with the education ecosystem in our community,” said Pennon, who added he thinks it’s important that the school board have a member with children in the district.
“I always aim to advocate for our children in my professional life, and serving on the school board is just another avenue of doing that,” he said. “I will make a commitment to be on campus and listen to students and teachers and other parents.”
Enney was chosen from a field of seven candidates. The Paso Robles school board also voted 4-2 to appoint him, with trustees Tim Gearhart and Nathan Williams dissenting.
In 2012, Enney moved from Monterey to retire and established Enney Ranch, which grows grain, in San Miguel. He formerly served as a United States Marine Corps Intelligence Officer from 1989 to 2012.
Enney noted in his interview with the school board that he’s grown to love the community of Paso Robles schools and knows a lot of people with children in the district. He wanted to get involved in the school district because he is “as concerned about the future of their children, I think, as they are in many cases,” he told the board on Oct. 4.
For the past two years, Enney said he’s been involved in education reform in California to promote school choice.
“My interest in education in America really stems from my concern that we’re not doing enough to help the next generation,” he said. “I look at all the divisions in the county and I see mostly the youth are the ones that are suffering because of it. And so trying to figure out a way to innovate and improve the education to improve the academic standing of our students, not only in Paso Robles but throughout the country, is my primary concern.”
Both the Atascadero and Paso Robles school boards have seats up for election this November.
The League of Women Voters held a candidate forum for the Paso Robles school board on Sept. 28. That is available to watch on YouTube at www.youtube.com/c/PRJUSDBroadcasts.
The Atascadero branch of the American Association of University Women will hold a candidate forum for the Atascadero school board on Oct. 19 at San Benito School from 7 to 9 p.m..
