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Cupertino Facts

 Over 2,200 residents from the Monta Vista and Lynbrook High School attendance areas have expressed opposition to the the Fremont Union High School District’s transition from at-large to by-trustee area elections. Residents have spoken out at board meetings, community meetings, and signed a Change.org petition.

Feb. 13, 2024 FUHSD Board Meeting

A Controversial Move

With the previous at-large voting system, residents were able to elect all five FUHSD Board Trustees. But with the new Trustee Area voting system, residents will only be allowed to elect one trustee in their designated Trustee Area. See our previous article for more background.

FUHSD’s stated reason for transitioning from At Large to Trustee Area Elections is to avoid scrutiny under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The CVRA, passed in 2002, helps minority groups more easily challenge At Large elections, on the grounds that they cause racially-polarized voting. However, to date, FUHSD has not done any analysis to determine whether there is racially-polarized voting in its district.

Cupertino Councilmembers Question FUHSD Plan

At the February 13th FUHSD Board Meeting, Cupertino City Councilmember Liang Chao, representing herself only, stated, “In the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court in August 2023, the Supreme Court raised the bar for the CVRA challenge. It specifically said alternatives could be ranked-choice voting and cumulative voting.”

Chao called for the FUHSD Board to immediately add an agenda item to consider other voting methods, and also “consider fiscal impacts of going through the lengthy redistricting process every 10 years with by-trustee area elections.”

Cupertino Councilmember Kitty Moore, whose children attended FUHSD schools, also spoke out representing herself only. Moore stated, “I am very concerned about the profound lack of data concerning redistricting, especially considering that we are a high school district known for our academics. This could potentially expose the district to various risks.”

Supporters of By-Trustee Areas

According to the FUHSD presentation delivered by Superintendent Graham Clark, the switch helps North Sunnyvale residents. Historically, most FUHSD trustees have come from South Sunnyvale and Cupertino. North Sunnyvale has not had any trustees. With the transition, North Sunnyvale would always be guaranteed one board member.

One of the decision’s biggest advocates is an organization called Sunnyvale Equity in Education (SEE). SEE has stated in a Facebook post that its goals include achieving equal representation on the board, and, in the long term, opening its own North Sunnyvale school.

Current and former Sunnyvale City Councilmembers are also proponents of the move. “No taxation without representation,” stated Sunnyvale’s Councilmember of District 5, which includes North Sunnyvale. “In the past 50 years, there has never been a Latino or a North Sunnyvale resident on this board. In the 40 years since the closure of Sunnyvale High School, North Sunnyvale residents have not enjoyed the same access or quality of high school educational resources as the rest of this district. Our residents deserve the same access to educational resources as South Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Los Altos, and San Jose residents.”

Opponents of By-Trustee Areas

Many Monta Vista and Lynbrook area parents expressed frustration with Trustee Areas, across multiple FUHSD meetings. Numerous public comments showed concern that the change would put Monta Vista or Lynbrook at risk of being closed, in order to make way for a Sunnyvale school. FUHSD currently has five high schools; it is unlikely to be able to afford six. During public meetings, several parents stated that it takes only three out of five board members to close a school. With the Trustee Area system, Southern FUHSD would be at risk of not having enough board members to vote against such a move, if it ever arose.

Many parents also stated that the change to Trustee Areas was made without their consent. All community outreach meetings occurred after the decision was made, asking residents to “choose a map” for Trustee Areas, rather than provide input on the Trustee Area decision itself. “By-Trustee Area will undercut the ability of every voter to have an impact, since we can only vote for one trustee every four years,” stated Councilmember Liang Chao.

Next Steps

FUHSD now faces the challenging task of managing the needs of multiple parent groups. The District continues to reassure parents that it “has no plans to close schools”. However, it also refuses to definitively state that it “will not close schools.” Ultimately, this lack of certainty is leaving many questioning the district’s motives.

How To Get Involved

There are many ways local residents can share their opinions on the move to Trustee Areas. Most immediately, there are two remaining Map Hearing Schedules. These are held during the regular board meetings at the District Office (589 W. Fremont Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94087).March 20, 2024 (6 P.M.)

• April 24, 2024 (6 P.M.): This is the final map hearing where the board will approve a final map of Trustee Areas, as well as which areas will be up for election.

Attend an FUHSD Board of Trustees meeting.

View the presentation made during the Monta Vista High School Community Outreach meeting.

Email:DO STAFF: RACHEL_ZLOTZIVER@FUHSD.ORG BOARD & DO STAFF: TRUSTEEAREAS@FUHSD.ORG

Those opposing the transition can sign the Change.org petition.

Transition to new trustee elections system at South Bay school district challenged

By Stephanie LamMarch 14 at 6:05 AM PT

南湾学区新托管人选举制度的过渡受到挑战

作者：斯蒂芬妮·林2024年3月14日上午6:05

作者：斯蒂芬妮·林2024年3月14日上午6:05

弗里蒙特联合高中学区（包括库比蒂诺、洛斯阿尔托斯、圣何塞、圣克拉拉、萨拉托加和桑尼维尔的部分地区）正在实施新的托管人选举制度，以避免潜在的选举权诉讼，这一举措引起了一些居民的不满。

该学区计划从目前的全区选举制度转变为按托管区选举制度，选民将在各自的区域选举一名候选人。工作人员正在努力使地图在4月得到最终确定和批准，以便在11月的选举时生效。

这一举措是因为学区面临着来自社区成员的潜在诉讼威胁，他们声称该学区违反了《加利福尼亚州选举权法》，该法保护种族少数群体免受选举权的削弱。然而，一些居民表示，改变发生得太快，没有足够的时间充分研究这个问题。

该学区担心，受法案保护的少数群体——主要集中在桑尼维尔北部的拉丁裔选民，尚未有人选当选。此外，据该学区称，自1970年以来，30名当选的董事会成员中，没有来自圣克拉拉、萨拉托加或桑尼维尔北部的候选人。与此同时，库比蒂诺等城市有13位候选人当选，中心桑尼维尔有8位。董事会主席杰夫·莫和托管人罗德·辛克斯的任期将在今年11月届满。

其他湾区的学区也改变了选举程序以减少诉讼的可能性。2019年，圣何塞的莫兰德学区转向了区域选举，弗里蒙特统一高中学区在2021年跟进，普莱森顿统一学区和圣马特奥联合学区在2022年跟随其后。Foothill-DeAnza托管委员会也在2022年转向了区域选举。然而，一些社区成员希望董事会重新考虑。

该学区范围内的社区居民和家长之声（VOCRP）的代表表示，学区工作人员未能充分告知选民有关变更，并未进行足够的分析以确定是否需要该变更。该组织在一月份发起了一项请愿活动，获得了超过2300居民簽名，要求推迟实施到2026年。

“因此，FUHSD董事会应在实施按托管人选举之前进行是否存在种族偏向性投票和选票稀释的分析，”该组织在一份声明中表示。

他们还坚称，并非每一项选举权主张都取得了成功，并表示有几种替代方案可以替代按托管人选举，包括累积投票、限制投票和排名投票——VOCRP表示，学区应该探索所有选项。

加州最高法院在2023年8月的一项裁决中澄清，只有在存在种族偏向性投票和对受保护群体选举首选候选人能力的稀释证据时，实体才违反该法案。2018年，帕洛阿尔托联合学区董事会表示，该学区不太可能转向托管区选举，因为该学区的一位律师表示，没有充分的证据证明存在违规行为。

但是，一些居民希望今年批准这项变更，以给像北桑尼维尔这样历史上被忽视的社区发声的机会。

北桑尼维尔居民佩吉·沈·布鲁斯特表示她支持新的选举流程。她创立了“桑尼維尔教育育公平”组织，该组织倡导在该地区实现公平的学校接入，以帮助提高人们对她所在地区代表性问题的认识。

“现在是间接代表，”她说。“我们感谢那些持同情态度的声音，但这并不等同于实际生活在这个地区、一直被边缘化和忽视的人们真正成为董事会上的声音。”

布鲁斯特认为，居民可以获得大量信息。在2023年的决议之后，学区成立了一个社区托管区划委员会，旨在向人们介绍过渡。布鲁斯特表示，该委员会还负责制定区域地图，并积极寻求社区反馈，以确保区域的公平性。

同样来自桑尼威爾的居民科特尼·詹森也支持按托管区选举的形式。她表示，新系统将在选举期间促进公平，因为人们只需要在自己的地区预算和计划竞选活动。

“我乐观地认为，这一举措将有助于增进董事会成员在代表上的多样性和包容性。”她说。

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