# Ventura County Board of Education, Trustee Area 4

Compare records and positions simply between Kristina Pine or Scott Dettorre for Ventura County Board of Education, Trustee Area 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person is one of five members on the Ventura County Board of Education. The board sets policy for the County Office of Education. That office runs special-education and alternative-education programs countywide. It also trains local teachers and hears student transfer and expulsion appeals. 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/ventura-boe-area-4
- 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: September 7, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 13 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Kristina Pine** — Teacher/Mother
- **Scott Dettorre** — Retired Firefighter

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Ventura County Board of Education's Area 4 seat is open this November, with no incumbent on the ballot. Kristina Pine, a former Simi Valley Unified School District board president, faces Scott Dettorre. Dettorre is a former Moorpark Unified School District trustee. Area 4 covers Moorpark and Simi Valley. The appointed sitting member, Arleigh Kidd, did not file to run. So whoever wins takes a fresh 4-year term. The board is now overseeing a forensic audit of its own superintendent's office.

The winner joins the same 5-member board Area 2 sends a trustee to. It sets policy for the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE), which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs, provides credentialing and professional-learning support to local districts, and hears interdistrict-transfer and expulsion appeals those districts can't resolve on their own. VCOE employs roughly 700 people on an annual budget near $285 million; the board oversees the elected county superintendent's office rather than running schools directly.

This board is mid-crisis: after County Superintendent Cesar Morales admitted in May to an unauthorized bonus and unauthorized staff benefits, the board committed roughly $350,000 -- more than double its own annual budget -- to a forensic audit and new financial-oversight rules. Neither Area 4 candidate currently sits on the board, so the choice here is less a referendum on that oversight work than a question of which outside experience -- a fellow local board's presidency, or a longer, twice-elected tenure on a neighboring district's board -- a newcomer brings to it.

## Kristina Pine

Kristina Pine served on the Simi Valley Unified School District board from December 2022 until June 2025. She resigned as its board president. The district's legal counsel had found that her spouse's 2023 hiring as a district teacher created a conflict of interest. She is running on the record she points to from that tenure. That includes a dual-language academy, inclusive playgrounds, and new campus-security fencing. Her ballot designation is 'Teacher/Mother.' Her resignation was voluntary and self-reported. The district superintendent publicly credited her handling of it.

**Strengths:** Nearly three years on a local school board, including a stint as its president. She points to a dual-language academy, inclusive playgrounds, and new campus-security fencing.

**Trade-offs:** She resigned her prior board seat mid-term. Her own spouse's district employment was found to conflict with state law. She self-reported the issue.

**Keep in mind:** The resignation was voluntary. The district superintendent publicly credited her handling of it. Her account and the district's are the only sources found on the episode.

## Scott Dettorre

Scott Dettorre is a retired Ventura County fire captain. He is a fire-technology instructor at Ventura County Community College District. He served on the Moorpark Unified School District board from 2016 until losing reelection in 2024. He has not published a platform specific to this race that could be found. His ballot designation is 'Retired Firefighter.' He lost his 2024 reelection bid. He finished behind both other candidates in a three-way race for two seats.

**Strengths:** Eight years of elected school-board experience, from 2016 to 2024. He also brings a public-safety and fire-service career. That is a different lens than either board's current makeup.

**Trade-offs:** He lost his own district board seat in the 2024 election. He finished behind both other candidates in a three-way race for two seats.

**Keep in mind:** No campaign website or published statement surfaced. Nor did news coverage of his reasons for seeking a county rather than district seat. His platform for this race is undocumented.

## Review notes

- Kristina Pine for Ventura County Board of Education -- campaign Facebook page: self-identifies as 'Candidate for Ventura County Board of Education District 4, representing Simi Valley and Moorpark' and Ventura County Democratic Party -- 2026 local-races endorsement page: lists Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino (Area 2) and Kristina Pine (Area 4) among its endorsed County Board of Education candidates may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- November 3, 2026 General Election Contest/Candidate Proof List (filtered to on-ballot contests): within the County section, Board of Education Trustee Area 2 shows two qualified candidates (incumbent Mike Teasdale, Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino) and Trustee Area 4 shows two qualified candidates (Kristina Pine, Scott Dettorre) -- Area 4's appointed sitting member, Arleigh Dean Kidd, did not file](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-18-2026-on-ballot-alpha-order-applied.pdf)
2. [Ventura County Office of Education -- Board of Education 'Board Members' page: names all five sitting trustees by area and title (Rachel Ulrich President/Area 1, Mike Teasdale Vice President/Area 2, Richard Lucas III/Area 3, Arleigh Kidd/Area 4, Dr. Ramon Flores/Area 5), each area's covered communities, and term-expiry years -- confirms Areas 2 and 4 expire in 2026, and that Area 4's sitting member (Kidd) holds the seat by appointment rather than election](https://www.vcoe.org/boe/members)
3. [Ojai Valley News -- 'See who's officially on the ballot for Ventura council, school board, education races' (Grant Phillips, updated Aug. 11, 2026): independently lists the certified Area 2 pairing (Mike Teasdale, incumbent; Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino) and Area 4 pairing (Scott Dettorre, Kristina Pine), with matching geographic descriptions -- Area 2 as Conejo Valley, Area 4 as eastern county including Simi Valley and Moorpark](https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/news/elections/see-whos-officially-on-the-ballot-for-ventura-council-school-board-education-races/article_c918da7b-6607-4a48-a1e1-17eff0ed89a7.html)
4. [Ventura County Star -- 'County education board ups scrutiny of finances over pay, perk issues' (Tony Biasotti, June 11, 2026): the board's response to Superintendent Cesar Morales admitting to a $15,750 unauthorized 2024 bonus and unauthorized 2023 staff health benefits -- a roughly $350,000 forensic-audit and monitoring budget, new agenda-disclosure rules, and Mike Teasdale's and Richard Lucas III's roles co-chairing the oversight committee, quoting Teasdale directly; also independently confirms the board's real powers and that Morales finished third in the June 2 primary behind Karen Sher and Maggie Marschner](https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/education/schoolwatch/2026/06/11/ventura-county-education-board-to-increase-scrutiny-of-finances/90510866007/)
5. [EdSource -- 'Ventura County superintendent who took unauthorized bonus loses reelection bid' (June 12, 2026): nonprofit-newsroom coverage of the same finance scandal, independently corroborating the $150,000-$300,000 forensic-audit price range Teasdale cited and his stated $250,000 budget recommendation](https://edsource.org/updates/ventura-county-superintendent-who-took-unauthorized-bonus-loses-reelection-bid)
6. [Ventura County Democratic Party -- 2026 local-races endorsement page: lists Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino (Area 2) and Kristina Pine (Area 4) among its endorsed County Board of Education candidates](https://www.venturacountydemocrats.com/endorsements)
7. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "PINE FOR SIMI VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD 2022; KRISTINA" (Filer #1452015), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval -- the committee is titled for her 2022 Simi Valley Unified race and has not been renamed or refiled for this county race](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1452015&session=2025)
8. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "DETTORRE 2024 MOORPARK UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AREA 2 TRUSTEE; RE-ELECT SCOTT" (Filer #1476197), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval -- the committee is titled for his 2024 Moorpark Unified race and has not been renamed or refiled for this county race; a separate, terminated committee is on file from his 2016 Moorpark Unified race](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1476197&session=2025)
9. [Simi Valley Acorn -- 'SVUSD board member resigns' (Michele Willer-Allred, June 21, 2025): Kristina Pine's resignation as Simi Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees president, effective June 16, 2025, after the district's legal counsel found her spouse's August 2023 hire as a district ASL teacher conflicted with Government Code Section 1090; the district superintendent's public statement crediting her handling of the issue, and the programs she cited from her tenure](https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/articles/svusd-board-member-resigns/)
10. [Kristina Pine for Ventura County Board of Education -- campaign Facebook page: self-identifies as 'Candidate for Ventura County Board of Education District 4, representing Simi Valley and Moorpark'](https://www.facebook.com/kristinaforvcoeboard)
11. [Moorpark Acorn -- 'Dettorre wants to focus on budget' (Oct. 14, 2016) and 'New Moorpark school trustees get to work' (Jan. 4, 2017, Ventura County Star): Scott Dettorre's first election to the Moorpark Unified School District board in November 2016 (5,661 votes, 24.1%, second-highest of the field) and swearing-in alongside Jeff Donabedian](https://www.mpacorn.com/articles/dettorre-wants-to-focus-on-budget/)
12. [Ballotpedia -- 'Moorpark Unified School District, California, elections': confirms Calvin Abbasi, Dan Burchfield, and Scott Dettorre ran for Moorpark Unified School District, Area 2, in the November 5, 2024 general election -- Dettorre's most recent prior race, following his 2016 and 2020 terms](https://ballotpedia.org/Moorpark_Unified_School_District,_California)
13. [Oxnard College (Ventura County Community College District) -- 'Meet Your Fire Technology Instructors' faculty page: Scott Dettorre's biography as a Fire Technology Instructor, a firefighter since 1983 and a Ventura County Fire Department captain](https://www.oxnardcollege.edu/departments/academic/fire-technology/instructors)

## The rest of the ballot

Ventura County Board of Education, Trustee Area 4 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, "Ventura County Board of Education, Trustee Area 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/ventura-boe-area-4 (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026).

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