FEATURED COLUMNIST
Change Coming to School Board Elections
Five Areas to be Created to Comply with Voting Rights Act
S
oquel Union Elementary School District’s Board of Trustees is currently engaged in a process that could potentially move us from “at-large” elections to “by-area” elections. The issue is well documented in our board agendas, dockets, and minutes. Still, I wanted to dedicate this space to informing you about the process. It is very important to us that this issue does not fly under the radar. The crux of this work is based on the California Voting Rights Act so let’s start there. The thrust of the CVRA is equity. In simple terms, it’s designed to ensure decision-making influence is spread out over an entire voting area (in our case, a school district). This approach is intended to make certain that the makeup of a decision-making body, a school board in our case, is representative of the school community as a whole. Or, as the actual legislation reads, “Existing law, the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA), prohibits the use of an at-large election in a political subdivision if it would impair the ability of a protected class, as defined, to elect candidates of its choice or otherwise influence the outcome of an election.”
By Scott J. Turnbull, Superintendent, Soquel Union Elementary School District
Our school board members are currently elected via at-large elections. When one of the five seats on our board of trustees is up for election, the entire voting population within our school district votes. In a by-area election, on the other hand, only voters in an identified area would weigh in on a board representative from that particular section of the district. Our school board proactively looked into this issue in 2019 by passing a resolution to go through the process of transitioning to by-area elections. At the time, it was determined that waiting until we have the full data from the 2020 Census would be wise. Census data is crucial to one of the most important parts of the process and that is working with a demographer to determine by-area voting maps. Now that we have that Census data our board has passed a resolution to restart the process. Public input on this process, of course, is also essential. The most direct and practical input will come during what’s called the “Map Consideration” Hearings. These are two public hearings at board meetings to consider proposed by-trustee area maps. Additionally, we are in the process of
scheduling additional map input sessions. As soon as those sessions are scheduled, I will be posting to our website and social media outlets. The overall required hearing procedures include two “Pre-Map” Hearings, two “Map Consideration” Hearings, and a “Map Adoption” Hearing. Once we do that work in our district, the County Committee must hold at least one hearing to consider changing the method of election. You can probably tell from the number of hearings that this is very deliberate work designed to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for public input and awareness. Below are the specific dates we have identified for the process in our district: Pre-Map Hearing #1: Held Oct. 6, 2021
Pre-Map Hearing #2: Held Oct. 20, 2021 Map-Review Hearing #1: Nov. 17, 2021 Map-Review Hearing #2: Dec. 15, 2021 Adopt final map: January 19, 2022 County Committee: February 2022 Again, those Map-Review Hearings are the critical opportunities to provide input on our potential maps from members of the public. Going through this process does not change the terms of our current board members. All incumbents retain their seats for the duration of their elected term. Once our by-area maps are determined, they must be revisited and, if needed, updated after each federal census. We want your input. “School Board” page 30
www.tpgonlinedaily.com Capitola Soquel Times / November 2021 / 27
