Hollister School District’s governing body took a key step in beginning the process of changing the way its trustees are elected to office.
At the July 23 meeting, the school board approved a resolution “initiating (the) process of establishing trustee areas and elections by trustee areas.”
In doing so, the board “directs the Superintendent or his designee to immediately initiate the legal and regulatory process to establish trustee areas within the District….to be established for the November 2020 election,” the resolution reads.
Under the existing model, the district’s five trustees are elected at large with even-year elections and staggered terms. Residents living within the school district boundaries as a whole vote in each of the members whenever a term expires.
However, with a by-trustee area election, a candidate must reside in a designated area to qualify for that office. In turn, a resident must live within that same trustee area to cast a vote.
“I’m in favor of (by-trustee area elections) because each area needs to have equal representation,” said Trustee Jan Grist during the July 23 deliberations. “If I lose my seat over this, I lost my seat because I believe this is what is right for our community.”
The board voted 4-1 to approve the resolution. Trustee Robert Bernosky was the lone dissenter.
“There’s been no evidence whatsoever that this does anything better for the kids that we are supposed to serve,” Bernosky said. “I ran for all the children of the Hollister School District, not those just in the area that I live.”
The district will contract with a demographer to draw up the five trustee areas based on the latest census data. The map work cost is estimated to be $25,000, according to the staff report.
The local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) alerted the Hollister School District that it was among the last governing body within San Benito County to still use an at-large election system, according to Board President Stephen Kain.
San Benito High School District, San Benito County Office of Education, San Benito County Board of Supervisors and Gavilan Community College Joint District all use by-trustee area elections to select their board members.
Now that school board has adopted the resolution, the next step is to hold five public hearings (two pre-map hearings, two map-consideration hearings and one map-adoption hearing). Once a trustee area map is finalized, the county Committee on School District Reorganization must hold at least one hearing and then vote on the local district’s proposal. Upon approval, the district can seek a waiver (which is generally granted) to bypass an election seeking voter approval of the plan.
LULAC sparked the district’s move toward an election format change, citing the California Voting Rights Act and the need to ensure more minority representation on the board. The purpose of the CVRA is to “prevent racially polarized voting” by transitioning to “district-based elections.”
The current five-member board includes two Latinx women. According to the California Department of Education database, Hollister’s student enrollment is 80.6 percent Hispanic or Latino.
