Eureka City Schools Board Appoints Author Jess Pettitt to Area 5 Seat

The Eureka City Schools Governing Board moved swiftly to close a 46-day gap in representation, voting at a special meeting March 31 to provisionally appoint Jess Pettitt, an Eureka-based author and public speaker, as Trustee for Area 5.

Pettitt fills the seat vacated by Jessica Rebholtz, who submitted her letter of resignation February 12 and stepped down effective February 13 after disclosing plans to relocate her family out of the region. Rebholtz had been elected to a term set to end in November 2026; under the provisional appointment, Pettitt will serve through December 2026.

The district formally solicited candidates before making its pick, setting a March 20 deadline for Area 5 residents to submit interest forms. The board's decision to convene a special session rather than wait for its next regular meeting underscored how quickly trustees wanted the five-member panel back at full voting strength.

Pettitt brings a professional background centered on organizational culture and leadership development. Based in Eureka, she holds a master's degree in education and the Certified Speaking Professional designation and is the author of "Good Enough Now," a framework for authentic leadership that she has delivered through keynotes and workshops to organizations across the country for more than two decades.

That background arrives at a board table with substantial decisions pending. Eureka City Schools will work through its 2026 budget cycle in the coming months, alongside ongoing staffing and personnel questions that have strained districts across Humboldt County. In a five-member board, a single trustee can be the deciding vote, and Area 5 families have had no representative at that table since mid-February.

What the appointment leaves open are the specifics: Pettitt has not yet had to go on record publicly on issues that parents in the district track most closely, including teacher retention strategies, access to special education services, and policies around student cellphone use, a topic that has sharply divided school communities statewide. Her first board meetings will provide the earliest read on where she stands.

The provisional status of the appointment means state education code will ultimately govern whether the seat runs to its natural December expiration or triggers a separate public process before then.