SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - On July 27, the San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) Board of Education moved toward compliance with the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) by holding the final public hearings on the transition to trustee-area elections.

 Many community members spoke in support of expanding the Board to seven seats, both at the July 27 public hearings and at multiple rounds of public hearings in recent weeks. Proponents of the expansion argued that more Board members would result in better representation, in particular for underrepresented areas with higher concentrations of minority voters, such as Arden Arcade and Citrus Heights.

 After hearing all the comments from the community about the possible expansion, most Board members stated they could see the pros and cons of both options. While some community members preferred remaining at five seats, the Board acknowledged that the majority of public comments supported expansion. They voted 4-1 in favor of expanding the Board to seven, with Vice President Michael McKibbin dissenting.

 McKibbin reasoned that the move to trustee-area elections would already provide more localized representation, and that a seven-member Board might have a more difficult time reaching consensus, thus making governance more difficult. “I do not believe that moving to seven trustees would be a triumph of good governance. I think it would be a triumph for politics,” said McKibbin, echoing a community concern that the push for expansion is due to some residents’ political ambitions.  

 After voting to expand, the Board next deliberated on whether to ask the State Board of Education for a waiver allowing SJUSD to bypass the legal requirements associated with that expansion. Without a waiver, the decision to expand would need to be taken to the voters of the district in a special election—and SJUSD would be responsible for the cost. If voters approved the expansion, the Board would then be required to appoint the new members, whose terms would then (due to outdated terms in the Education Code) end in odd-numbered years. This would cause major issues for future elections since SJUSD elects its Board members in even-numbered years. In a special election, it would also be possible for voters to reject the expansion altogether, leaving the SJUSD with a five-member board elected at-large, and therefore out of compliance with the CVRA.

 The Board members all agreed it was preferrable to have new Board members elected by voters rather than appointed. They also agreed that any money spent on a special election is money that is taken away from students and classrooms. The Board voted unanimously to seek the waiver to bypass the special election.

 During public comment on the map selection, some community members stated that none of the maps were good enough. They argued that the maps combined low-income areas with nearby affluent neighborhoods, which they said would dilute the voting strength of the low-income voters. Some asked that the Board delay the decision so that other maps could be drafted and reviewed.

 But the Board doesn’t have the option to delay the map selection. Under the CVRA, if the agency completes the transition during the Safe Harbor timeline, it limits the amount of attorneys’ fees (approximately $30,000) they must pay to the plaintiffs’ attorneys. According to the attorney for SJUSD, the Safe Harbor timeline was paused in April 2020 due to the Governor’s emergency order during the pandemic, but the clock restarted with the expiration of that order on June 30, 2021.  Meanwhile, plaintiffs’ attorney, Scott Rafferty, brought a lawsuit against SJUSD in October 2020 after the district didn’t implement trustee-area elections ahead of the 2020 election.  Without an extension agreement from Mr. Rafferty, the SJUSD must continue on the accelerated timeline.

 Plaintiffs in the lawsuit were among those asking for a delay in the decision, and Mr. Rafferty himself even spoke during public comment. He argued that the Board needs “to deal with us as partners, not adversaries. … This map will not stand. None of these maps will stand. They all mix millionaires with refugees and working-class people and Latinos.”

 Board member Zima Creason stated, “Once there’s a lawsuit, you have to deal with the lawsuit. So, the idea that we’re partners now, my position is: No, we’re not. A lawsuit stopped that, and it’s unfortunate.” She shares the concern of low- and high-income neighborhoods combined in the same areas and acknowledged that none of the maps are perfect. Creason said she would have preferred a longer timeline to work toward the best possible map, but that isn’t possible with the current time constraints.

 While community members offered a variety of opinions about which map best represents the district, the majority preferred Map 3. President Paula Villescaz agreed that there is no perfect map that will satisfy everyone. In this process, “there are no good choices, just good decisions,” she said.  The Board voted 4-1 in favor of Map 3, with Vice President McKibbin dissenting, since he preferred Map 4.

 The Board then voted on election sequencing. With the new seven trustee areas, there would be three open seats: Area 1, on the west side; Area 6, in the Fair Oaks/Gold River area; and Area 7, in part of Citrus Heights. Board members Paula Villescaz and Pam Costa would be in Area 2, Zima Creason in Area 3, Saul Hernandez in Area 4, and Michael McKibbin in Area 5. The transition process specifies that current Board members must be allowed to serve out their terms, so choosing election sequencing aligned with incumbents’ terms would ensure open seats are filled as soon as possible.

 The recommendation was that Areas 3 and 5 be up for election in 2022, which is when Creason and McKibbin would be up for reelection anyway. Two of the open areas would also be up for election in 2022. In 2024, Areas 2 and 4 would be up for reelection, which is when Villescaz, Costa, and Hernandez would be up for reelection. One of the open areas would also be up for election in 2024. The decision of which open areas would be up for election in those years would be determined by lottery by the Sacramento County Committee on School District Organization. The Board voted 4-1 to approve the sequencing, with McKibbin dissenting.

 For more details about the transition or to find your trustee area, visit https://www.sanjuan.edu/elections.