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All three local school districts are saying no-thanks to a provision in the California Voting Rights Act to move their board of trustee elections from the current at-large system in favor of carving districts into areas.
And all three have directed Schools Legal Service to prepare resolutions for approval next month that will keep the current system.
Lawyers from Schools Legal System over the past week met with trustees for the Taft City School, Taft Union High and Taft College districts to discuss the election options.
All three boards last spring voted to delay any action until after 2010 census data were available.
All the legal maneuvering was necessary because of a demand by minority voting rights advocates that California school districts implement “by trustee area” elections in which candidates are elected only by the voters in the trustee area or risk lawsuits.
Suits have been filed in three districts – Modesto, Madera and Tulare.
Local boards agreed that creating trustee areas does not make sense for small rural areas like Taft.
Census data backs them up.
The numbers show very light election participation rates for Hispanic voters – the predominant minority on the Westside.
While more than a third of the populations in each of the three districts is Hispanic, actual voter turnout is 6.3% for the city school district, 6.0% for Taft High and 6.4% for Taft College.
Both Grant Herndon, who reviewed data and options with Taft High and College boards and William Hornback with the city school board said statistics show it would be impossible to create Hispanic voting areas because that population is so spread out.
“There’s no way you could fashion a majority Hispanic district,” Herndon said.
Both lawyers reviewed the pros and cons of switching to an area-specific system, the biggest being that voters would only be able to cast a ballot every four years for candidates in their specific area. With the at-large system voters get to vote every two years to elect representatives accountable to the entire district.
“Our constituents like the fact that they can vote for all of us,” TC trustee Dawn Cole said.
Taft High trustee Rick Twisselman concurred.
“You’re accountable for the whole district,” he said. “I don’t see how you could draw a fair district” under a trustee-area system.
“I don’t see this working,” said city school board member Les Clark Jr. “I just don’t get it in a small community. I don’t think this will do what it’s supposed to do.”
Superintendents of all three local districts said they have not had any challenges to the current at-large system.
Moving to a by-trustee area also would increase election costs, which are paid by school districts that have been buffeted by a string of budget cuts with more looming.
All three local school districts are saying no-thanks to a provision in the California Voting Rights Act to move their board of trustee elections from the current at-large system in favor of carving districts into areas.
And all three have directed Schools Legal Service to prepare resolutions for approval next month that will keep the current system.
Lawyers from Schools Legal System over the past week met with trustees for the Taft City School, Taft Union High and Taft College districts to discuss the election options.
All three boards last spring voted to delay any action until after 2010 census data were available.
All the legal maneuvering was necessary because of a demand by minority voting rights advocates that California school districts implement “by trustee area” elections in which candidates are elected only by the voters in the trustee area or risk lawsuits.
Suits have been filed in three districts – Modesto, Madera and Tulare.
Local boards agreed that creating trustee areas does not make sense for small rural areas like Taft.
Census data backs them up.
The numbers show very light election participation rates for Hispanic voters – the predominant minority on the Westside.
While more than a third of the populations in each of the three districts is Hispanic, actual voter turnout is 6.3% for the city school district, 6.0% for Taft High and 6.4% for Taft College.
Both Grant Herndon, who reviewed data and options with Taft High and College boards and William Hornback with the city school board said statistics show it would be impossible to create Hispanic voting areas because that population is so spread out.
“There’s no way you could fashion a majority Hispanic district,” Herndon said.
Both lawyers reviewed the pros and cons of switching to an area-specific system, the biggest being that voters would only be able to cast a ballot every four years for candidates in their specific area. With the at-large system voters get to vote every two years to elect representatives accountable to the entire district.
“Our constituents like the fact that they can vote for all of us,” TC trustee Dawn Cole said.
Taft High trustee Rick Twisselman concurred.
“You’re accountable for the whole district,” he said. “I don’t see how you could draw a fair district” under a trustee-area system.
“I don’t see this working,” said city school board member Les Clark Jr. “I just don’t get it in a small community. I don’t think this will do what it’s supposed to do.”
Superintendents of all three local districts said they have not had any challenges to the current at-large system.
Moving to a by-trustee area also would increase election costs, which are paid by school districts that have been buffeted by a string of budget cuts with more looming.
