By-Trustee Area Voting Process Community Survey

Current Trustee Area Map

Background

The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) prohibits the use of “at-large” elections in certain circumstances.

Currently the Mariposa County Office of Education and Unified School District Board members are elected in “at-large” elections, where each member is elected by voters throughout the County/District.

“By-trustee-area” elections, in which members are elected by voters in geographical subdivisions of the jurisdiction, are immune from challenge under the CVRA and as such, many school districts and other local agencies, have transitioned from at-large to by-trustee area elections, or are in the process of doing so.

The District/County Office of Education wishes to ensure compliance with the CVRA or, at a minimum, avoid the potential for costly litigation under the CVRA. And so, MCUSD/MCOE intend to make the transition to a By-Trustee-Area method of election in time for the next governing board member election in November of 2024. 

As Mariposa is one of just 7 single district counties in California this process may differ a bit from other communities.
 

First Steps

On Thursday, April 25, 2024, the MCUSD/MCOE School Boards approved Resolutions 24-33 (District) and 24-03 (County), Initiating the Process of Establishing Trustee Election Areas. 

The District then held two Pre-Mapy public hearings on Thursday, May 2, 2024 & Thursday, May 9, 2024, at which the community had an opportunity to provide input.  

Next Steps

Mariposa County is already divided into 5 districts which underwent a redistricting process in 2022, after the last National Census was held in 2020 and MCUSD/MCOE had adopted those same maps for their trustee area boundaries. It has been established that the criteria used to create those maps align with criteria necessary for them to be adopted for a trustee-area voting scenario.  

The first of two "post-map" hearings will be held on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 4:30 PM to hear public comment regarding the current map used to establish our trustee areas. 

Required Public Hearings

There will be two "pre-map" public hearings where the criteria and process will be discussed and community input will be gathered and discussed. 

Tentative Dates for the "pre-map" hearings are: THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024 & THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2024

At the conclusion of these "pre-map" hearings, a map will be created and posted for the community to review. There will then be two "post-map" hearings, where community input will continue to be gathered, if necessary the maps may be updated. 

Tentative Dates for the "post-map" hearings are: THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024 & THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2024

At the conclusion of the hearings, the MCUSD/MCOE will hold one final meeting where it may vote to approve the election area map and move the Unified School District and County office of Education to the "by-trustee-area" for the November 2024 election. 

Tentative Date for the final hearing could be THURSDAY JUNE 13 or THURSDAY, JUNE 20