Salinas, CA – The Monterey County Committee on School District Organization has approved a recommendation by a Citizen Task Force for the redistricting of the seven trustee areas of the Monterey County Board of Education.  The redistricting plan will now be submitted to the United States Department of Justice for preclearance before it is implemented in time for the nomination period of the November 2013 regular elections. Monterey County is one of many jurisdictions throughout the U.S. that must receive preclearance.

The Citizen Task Force that formulated the redistricting plan was composed of an appointed representative from each trustee area, and community groups that have had a history of involvement with voting rights, including representatives from the 20th District PTA, American Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters (Monterey Peninsula and Salinas Valley), League United of Latin American Citizens XII (LULAC), Coalition of Minority Organizations and NAACP. Monterey County Board of Education Members Harvey Kuffner and David Serena also served on the Task Force as non-voting representatives.
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The Task Force completed its work over the course of five meetings. The group ultimately recommended a scenario that balanced out the population and met legal compliance, while having as little impact as possible on most of the current trustee area configurations.

In jurisdictions that elect school board members by trustee areas, redistricting involves the review following each Decennial Federal Census of the current trustee area populations. Boundary adjustments and changes are then made in order to balance trustee area populations.  

This review applies to the election districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures, and local political entities (including county offices of education, public school districts, community college districts, city councils, county boards of supervisors, water boards, and other special districts).

To view the full recommendations of the Task Force, visit http://www.montereycoe.org/home/county-committee.

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