San Mateo Union High School District officials were left with more questions than answers while considering draft maps that would determine the voting population for each trustee area once by-district elections are instituted later this year.
“I think there’s pluses and minuses but generally they’re probably all livable one way or another,” Trustee Robert Griffin said. “I think it’s good to hear the pros and cons. I just wish there was more input from the public.”
The board was presented with four draft maps in which lines were focused on differing criteria. In Draft Map 101, lines were drawn based on attendance zones for each school within the district while Draft Map 102 used feeder districts to determine trustee area boundaries.
Like Draft Map 101, Draft Map 103 also used attendance zones for schools within the district but blended them so each trustee area represented at least two schools. Draft Map 104 also used blended attendance zones while taking into consideration feeder districts and major roads in drafting area boundaries.
While no trustees offered strong criticisms of the maps, Vice President Linda Lees Dwyer shared concerns for continuing a historic divide between the east and west sides of the district which occurs along El Camino Real, noting the west side is known for being more affluent and has been overrepresented on the board.
“The El Camino Real thing, it’s a real situation of division in all of these. … I would like to see it be less of a deal,” Lees Dwyer said.
Kevin Shenkman of Shenkman and Hughes was the lawyer who served the district with a demand letter last January asserting it was violating the California Voting Rights Act by holding at-large elections, but Scott Rafferty, another lawyer often behind similar letters, addressed the issue during Thursday's meeting by claiming district’s redistricting process fails to accurately depict communities of interest.
Rather than using city boundaries or school attendance lines, Rafferty implored the board to do additional work to identify underserved areas in need of a louder voice.
Rafferty also offered appreciation to Doug Johnson, president of National Demographics Corporation, who drew the four draft maps by using economic and demographic data but said the board’s intimate knowledge of their communities could be better incorporated.
“I just wish you would walk the walk on this and try. It’s not going to be easy because these are not concentrated in a single area but it’s worth a look,” Rafferty said.
In response, Johnson said he uses the most up-to-date data from the U.S. census to draft the maps in compliance with the CVRA, aiming to keep communities such as areas with a high concentration of non-English speakers together to strengthen their voting power.
Board President Peter Hanley also noted that district demographics are fairly similar in each draft map regardless of how the lines are drawn. In each of the four maps, about 65% or more of residents make upwards of $75,000 annually.
“It kind of is what it is in this area of the world. I don’t know that you could create a low-income district. I don’t think that’s going to be possible,” Hanley said. There’s a lot of similarities almost any way you slice them.”
Johnson noted an area like SMUHSD is not likely to see large variances between districts given the limited area that’s being cut into five pieces. With just more than 250,000 residents living within the district’s boundaries, each district would represent about 50,000 people.
But Johnson noted each map includes at least one minority-majority district by combining the voting power of Black, Hispanic and Asian residents of voting age in each trustee area.
Still, Trustee Greg Land requested Johnson bring back another draft map that addressed Lees Dwyer’s concerns for the east to west divide for future consideration. He and Lees Dwyer also supported a suggestion from Trustee Ligia Andrade Zúñiga that the board hold a special meeting to focus on redistricting without other agenda items up for consideration but no formal action was taken.
The item is scheduled for consideration during at least two more meetings on Feb. 10 and Feb. 24 and must be approved by the County Committee on School District Organization by early April in time for the November elections.
Note to readers: This story has been updated to reflect accurate information regarding the district's transition to by-trustee area elections. Kevin Shenkman of Shenkman and Hughes was the lawyer behind the demand letter to the district asserting it was violating the California Voting Rights Act.
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Connie Weiss said:
LittleFoot said:
If your are dumb enough to think voting still matters - I have a big orange bridge in SF to sell you. Only $20
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(2) comments
Are these the same board members who voted to close Crestmoor instead of the oldest school Burlingame? the trustees live in the burlingame district and did not close Burlingame the oldest but Crestmoor the youngest school in the district. completely influencing the vote to Crestmoor keeping Burlingame open I remember it all.
The attendance zone map of San Mateo High School is ridiculous. How is it you have to have equity in representation maps but not in basic attendance maps.
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