Like more than 300 school districts and 100 cities across the state, the Sunnyvale School District has started the process to change to by-trustee area elections. Currently, the District has an at-large election system, where voters of the entire District are able to vote for all members of 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 will only be able to vote for one Board member who resides in the trustee area in which they live.
The intent of this proposed system is to adhere to the California Voting Rights Acts known as CVRA and to offer greater opportunities for Board representation for candidates that might not otherwise be elected under the current election method.
The Board has been working with a professional demographer to create the proposed trustee area boundaries, which will be refined and revised based on the public’s input. There have been four public hearings held to date where the public has been invited to attend. A fifth public hearing will be held at the Regular Board Meeting on December 9. If you have not had the chance to review the maps or provide input, please go to https://www.sesd.org/Page/5360.
Once the process is complete, 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.
Please feel free to contact Jesus Romero, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent, with any comments or questions by calling (408) 522-8200 ext. 1002 or by email at jesus.romero@sesd.org.
