Trustee Elections / California Voting Rights Act

Why is SBUSD transitioning to trustee area elections?

In 2002, the Legislature enacted the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) (Elec. Code §§14025 – 14032), which prohibits California public agencies, including public school districts, from imposing or applying an at-large election method “that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election” (Elec. Code §14027). A protected class is defined by the CVRA as “a class of voters who are members of a race, color, or language minority group, as this class is referenced and defined in the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965”.

In a lawsuit brought pursuant to the CVRA, a plaintiff who establishes a history of “racially polarized voting” under a school district's at-large election system can require a school district to change to a district-based election system. On June 12, 2018, the SBUSD Board of education adopted a resolution outlining its intention to transition from at-large to district-based elections, which included specific steps the District will undertake to facilitate the transition, and an estimated time frame for doing so.

The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) prohibits the use of an election system “that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election.” Elected entities can be sued if their election systems result in racially polarized voting. If a court finds against an elected entity, the elected entity must change its election system and pay substantial attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses.

SBUSD currently has an "at-large" election system where voters of the entire district elect all members of the School Board. A “by-trustee area” election system will carve SBUSD's district into "by-trustee areas." Voters in each "by-trustee area" will choose one School Board representative, who must also live in that "by-trustee area."

If approved, registered voters in the school district's boundaries will have the opportunity to vote for a candidate for School Board that lives in their "by-trustee area." Registered voters will not be able to vote for School Board candidates from the other trustee areas.

No. This does not impact where a student attends school. This impacts where the board members who are elected come from. 

Below is the criteria used for creating trustee areas: 

1. Each trustee area must contain a nearly equal population.
2. Trustee area borders must be drawn in a manner that complies with the federal, state, and any applicable law.
3. In establishing trustee areas, the Board of Education may give consideration to the following factors: topography, geography, cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity, compactness of territory, and community of interests.
4. The Board of Education may also establish other criteria, so long as they do not conflict with federal, state, or applicable law.

The Board is inviting comments from the public on the boundaries of potential trustee areas.  Draft maps will be available on this website and at the District on October 5, and there will be two meetings on October 12 and 26 where members of the public can provide comments on the draft maps to the Board.  You may also provide comments at any time using the form on this website.  Comments received will be collected and provided to the Board.

 Switching to by-trustee elections will require the District to create five geographic trustee areas within the District, each assigned to one seat on the Board. Voters within each trustee area will vote only for candidates for the seat on the Board assigned to their trustee area. The Board is working with a professional demographer to create proposed trustee area boundaries which will be refined and revised following the public’s input. Ultimately, the Board will adopt a proposed map which will be reviewed and approved by the County Committee on School District Organization. Once the transition is approved, Board elections will be transitioned to by-trustee area elections beginning with the 2022 election. The current Board members will continue in office until the expiration of their terms in 2022 or 2024.

Trustee areas are reviewed every ten years, following the Census.

The County Committee will post an advanced notice for its public hearing on its website. SBUSD will also provide notice through its public outreach mechanisms.

The boundaries of the trustee areas are reevaluated and updated after the data from each federal census is released, which is every 10 years. (Ed. Code, § 5019.5.) 9

No, residents of a trustee area may only vote for Board candidates living in same trustee area.

No, this process only changes the way Board members are elected. It does not change anything else.