Amador County - The Amador County Unified School District (ACUSD) Board of Trustees on Wednesday will consider whether to pursue a request to reduce its members from 7 to 5 in order to create a voting system based on trustee areas only, with no at-large influence. The Board previously provided direction to begin the process of selecting trustees by area, as required by the California Voter Rights Act (CVRA). As specified in the meeting’s agenda, the board will discuss approval of a resolution to submit a request to the State Board of Education for a “waiver of the requirement that decreasing the size of the Amador County Board of Trustees from 7 members to 5 members be submitted to the electors as set forth in education code section 1004.” The resolution states “that if the county committee on school district organization votes to create trustee areas which are coterminous with the supervisory districts of the county, then future elections of the county board of education must be consolidated with countywide elections.” It reads that since “Education Code 1004 is not listed as an exception…(it) therefore may be waived by the State Board of Education upon submission of a proper waiver application.” The resolution states that the board has determined the change to 5 trustee areas is “in the best interests” of ACUSD, taking into consideration that “litigation has been initiated against certain California school districts and cities alleging violations of the California Voting Rights Act.” The board recently received comments on the matter during a public hearing which was posted separate from the regular board agenda as part of the state waiver process. The resolution says the board “has considered the issue in light of the education code requirements, the one-person one-vote rule, traditional districting principles, and in light of the CVRA and the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.” Under a separate agenda item, the board will discuss whether to begin the “reduction of members” process, considering that the Ione Trustee area has only 1 person - Rose Andrews-Oneto – in line to fill two vacant seats. Lynette Lipp and incumbent Pat Miller were recently chosen to be seated to fill 2 vacant seats in the Jackson Trustee area. The board may prefer to size down in 2012, in which case a seventh board member will need to be appointed prior to the November election. Lipp said the board will likely hold off until 2012 considering the close proximity to the next election. When the new structure is put in place, citizens will only vote for the board member in the district in which they live. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 06:43
ACUSD Board Considers Move From 7 to 5 Members
Amador County - The Amador County Unified School District (ACUSD) Board of Trustees on Wednesday will consider whether to pursue a request to reduce its members from 7 to 5 in order to create a voting system based on trustee areas only, with no at-large influence. The Board previously provided direction to begin the process of selecting trustees by area, as required by the California Voter Rights Act (CVRA). As specified in the meeting’s agenda, the board will discuss approval of a resolution to submit a request to the State Board of Education for a “waiver of the requirement that decreasing the size of the Amador County Board of Trustees from 7 members to 5 members be submitted to the electors as set forth in education code section 1004.” The resolution states “that if the county committee on school district organization votes to create trustee areas which are coterminous with the supervisory districts of the county, then future elections of the county board of education must be consolidated with countywide elections.” It reads that since “Education Code 1004 is not listed as an exception…(it) therefore may be waived by the State Board of Education upon submission of a proper waiver application.” The resolution states that the board has determined the change to 5 trustee areas is “in the best interests” of ACUSD, taking into consideration that “litigation has been initiated against certain California school districts and cities alleging violations of the California Voting Rights Act.” The board recently received comments on the matter during a public hearing which was posted separate from the regular board agenda as part of the state waiver process. The resolution says the board “has considered the issue in light of the education code requirements, the one-person one-vote rule, traditional districting principles, and in light of the CVRA and the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.” Under a separate agenda item, the board will discuss whether to begin the “reduction of members” process, considering that the Ione Trustee area has only 1 person - Rose Andrews-Oneto – in line to fill two vacant seats. Lynette Lipp and incumbent Pat Miller were recently chosen to be seated to fill 2 vacant seats in the Jackson Trustee area. The board may prefer to size down in 2012, in which case a seventh board member will need to be appointed prior to the November election. Lipp said the board will likely hold off until 2012 considering the close proximity to the next election. When the new structure is put in place, citizens will only vote for the board member in the district in which they live. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Latest from
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