Members of the community will have an opportunity Saturday, April 9, 2005, to comment on a proposal to create trustee areas within the Sacramento City Unified School District.
Public testimony regarding proposed Sacramento City Unified School District trustee areas will be heard Saturday, April 9, starting at 10:00 a.m., in the cafeteria of Hiram Johnson High School, 6879 14th Avenue, Sacramento (at the intersection of 65th Street Expressway, near Highway 50).
The Sacramento County Board of Education, acting as the Sacramento County Committee on School District Organization, will receive community input in regard to three questions:
- Should trustee areas be established in the Sacramento City Unified School District, whose board of education currently is comprised of trustees elected "at large" with no specific area of representation?
- If trustee areas are established, what should be the method of election of each trustee: (a) at-large election by all voters in the district, or (b) trustee-area election by voters who reside in the trustee area?
- If trustee areas are established, what should their boundaries be?
The hearing is the second of three to be held by the County Committee on School District Organization on a citizens' petition to establish seven trustee areas for the SCUSD governing board. On April 20, 2004, the Sacramento County Office of Education received the citizens' petition, which was deemed "sufficient and signed as required by law" (Ed. Code §35704), and submitted to the County Committee on School District Organization and the State Board of Education in May 2004. The citizens' petition proposes that each trustee would be elected from a trustee area by the voters residing in that trustee area. On June 15, 2004, the County Committee reviewed and considered options for dealing with the petition. The Committee voted to appoint a subcommittee to identify dates for public hearings to be held in differing neighborhoods within the Sacramento City Unified School District. The County Committee held its first hearing in the district's southern portion March 9 at J.F. Kennedy High School.
A final public hearing will take place in the district's eastern portion Wednesday, May 11, 6:30 p.m., at Rosemont High School, 9594 Kiefer Boulevard, Sacramento. At the close of this hearing, the County Committee will take action on the petition.