# Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 7 Compare records and positions simply between Robert Ocampo or Shanice Virrueta for Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 7 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person serves on the Monterey County Board of Education. The board has 7 members. It runs special education and alternative education programs for the county. It also hears school appeals and decides county budget matters. The term is four years. - Jurisdiction: School District - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/monterey-boe-area-7 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 94 out of 100 (Very strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Robert Ocampo** - **Shanice Virrueta** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Monterey County's Board of Education has an open-seat race for its Trustee Area 7 seat on November 3, 2026: Robert Ocampo, a sitting Alisal Union School District trustee and former Salinas City Council member, faces Shanice Virrueta, a longtime coach and mentor at United Way Monterey County. It's a direct November election with no June primary for this office -- whoever gets the most votes wins outright. The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education. The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, decides county-level budget and property matters, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals from local school districts. The board will also work with incoming County Superintendent of Schools Dan Burns, who was elected in June 2026. The seat is open because incumbent Sandra Ocampo decided not to seek reelection here -- she's running instead for a seat on the Alisal Union School District board, the seat her husband Robert currently holds, while Robert runs for her open MCOE seat. Both say, if elected, this would be their last term in their new seats. ## Robert Ocampo Robert Ocampo has represented Alisal Union School District's Area 2 for eight years and previously served on the Salinas City Council. They say they would focus on inter-district transfers and look for creative solutions, like on-campus child care, to keep families in their home districts. **Strengths:** Eight years on the Alisal Union board plus prior Salinas City Council service gives them direct familiarity with both K-12 governance and local politics in the county seat's communities. **Trade-offs:** Their current board seat is at a different, smaller district than the one the county board oversees, and they are leaving it -- to their wife's campaign -- rather than continuing it. **Keep in mind:** Cal-Access shows only an active committee tied to their current Alisal Union seat, not one specifically naming the county board race; they say this would be their last term if elected. ## Shanice Virrueta Shanice Virrueta is a longtime coach and mentor who works at United Way Monterey County, making their first run for elected office. **Strengths:** Direct, hands-on youth-mentoring experience through United Way gives them firsthand exposure to the population MCOE's programs -- special education, inter-district transfers -- most directly serve. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office and no specific policy platform beyond their professional background surfaced this pass. **Keep in mind:** No independent news coverage of their candidacy beyond Monterey County Weekly's own reporting was found; they have no campaign committee registered with the state for this race. ## Sources 1. [Monterey County Elections -- official "Candidate List" page for the November 3, 2026 General Election: within the School section, County Board of Education Governing Board Member contests are listed for Trustee Areas 1, 3, 6, and 7 only -- the same four seats as the county's own Elected Officials roster, confirming these are the only county-section contests this cycle (Areas 2, 4, and 5 are not up until 2028)](https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/elections/elections/candidate-list) 2. [Monterey County Elections -- official "Elected Officials: Schools Superintendents" roster: names each sitting Monterey County Board of Education trustee by area and next-election date -- Annette Yee Steck (Area 1), Heather Owen (Area 3), Mary Claypool (Area 6), and Sandra Ocampo (Area 7) all show "Next Election: 11/03/2026," while Areas 2, 4, and 5 show 2028, confirming which four seats are up this cycle and who currently holds each](https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/elections/candidates/elected-officials-schools-superintendents/) 3. [Monterey County Weekly (montereycountynow.com) -- "Monterey County Office of Education board may have three new trustees next year" (Celia Jimenez, Aug. 25, 2026): reports all four county-section races on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot -- Trustee Areas 1, 3, 6, and 7 -- naming every candidate, which incumbents are and are not seeking reelection, and background on each contender, including that outgoing Area 7 incumbent Sandra Ocampo is running instead for Alisal Union School District Area 2, the seat her husband Robert Ocampo currently holds, while he runs for her open MCOE seat](https://www.montereycountynow.com/svnow/news/monterey-county-office-of-education-board-may-have-three-new-trustees-next-year/article_f984b249-0090-4200-a4d9-798c37df3c58.html) 4. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Robert Ocampo": an active committee, "COMMITTE TO ELECT ROBERT OCAMPO BOARD MEMBER, ALISAL UNION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, DISTRICT, AREA 2 (2022)", remains on record for his current school-board seat; no separate committee naming the Monterey County Board of Education or Trustee Area 7 was found](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Robert%20Ocampo) 5. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Shanice Virrueta": no results; no campaign committee or candidate filer entry registered under her name](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Shanice%20Virrueta) ## The rest of the ballot Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 7 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Monterey County Board of Education, Trustee Area 7 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/monterey-boe-area-7 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.