Updated 2:05 p.m., July 30th–
Sentinel staff report– The San Juan Unified School District board of trustees voted Tuesday night to select a preferred seven-trustee-area electoral map, which includes one dedicated seat covering the area of Citrus Heights.
The map is now pending final approval from the Sacramento County Committee on School District Organization, which will meet on August 5th. To be finalized, the State Board of Education must also grant a waiver to approve the board’s decision to increase its number from a current total of five trustees to seven.
The map chosen by the board carves out a seat (area 7) that follows the boundaries of Citrus Heights in the northwestern portion of the school district. Another adjacent seat (area 5) largely covers Orangevale but also includes a portion of the Citrus Heights, east of San Juan Avenue and Old Auburn Road.
A small portion of Citrus Heights is also included in areas 4 and 6, meaning Citrus Heights could potentially have residents sitting on up to four seats of the seven seats.
School board members also voted in support of a preferred election sequencing schedule, which would see trustee areas 3 and 5 be up for election in 2022, along with two more areas: 1, 6, or 7. An election would be held for the remaining areas in 2024. The schedule is now pending approval from the county committee.
Currently, SJUSD school board members are elected on an at-large basis where voters from the entire district vote for all members on the board. The new map would instead create trustee areas within the San Juan Unified School District’s boundaries, where voters from each area will select one resident from their area to represent them on the school board. Each area is made up of about 45,000 residents.
The Citrus Heights City Council last month formally voted in favor of a resolution supporting the school district’s transition to by-trustee-area elections and increasing the board size to seven members. Several council members cited a history of the city lacking representation on the school board, and expressed hope that a new seven-member trustee map would give Citrus Heights a guaranteed seat at the table.
According to the city’s resolution, the last time a resident of Citrus Heights served on the school board was around 20 years ago.
Sentinel staff report--
The San Juan Unified School District board of trustees voted Tuesday night to select a preferred seven-trustee-area electoral map, which includes one dedicated seat covering the area of Citrus Heights.
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