MDUSD hosts community forums to review draft maps for by-trustee area elections
Community will have chance to review, provide input on draft maps prior to board action
WHAT: The Mt. Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) invites families, students, community and business leaders, and other stakeholders to attend one of seven community input forums spread over three days to review and provide feedback on draft maps for future by-trustee area elections.
As it transitions to the by-trustee area elections system model, MDUSD will be organized into five individual trustee areas. Previously, trustees were elected by voters of the entire district. In the new process, trustees will be elected by the voters living within the trustee’s respective area. Input gathered from the public during these two hearings will help determine the criteria used by a demographer in drafting the new trustee area maps.
Information about the process is available at https://mdusd-ca.schoolloop.com/boardelections.
WHEN/WHERE: The community forums will be held as follows:
| Wednesday, August 21 |
Thursday, August 22 | Thursday, August 29 |
| Loma Vista Adult School
Noon – 1 p.m. |
Pine Hollow Middle School
5 – 6 p.m. |
District Office/Board Room
5 – 6 p.m. |
| Willow Creek Center
5 – 6 p.m. |
Foothill Middle School
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. |
Riverview Middle School
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. |
| Pleasant Hill Middle School
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. |
Translations from English to Spanish and American Sign Language will be available upon request. Families who would like to have other languages available are asked to call Arlina Diaz, Translation Services, at (925) 682-8000, ext. 4045 or diaza@mdusd.org so we can work toward locating interpreters.
The draft maps will be posted on the District website by September 16, 2019. A public hearing will be held at the Board of Education’s regular meeting on Monday, September 23, 2019, to review the maps. Actions may be taken at that meeting to narrow the number of maps for final consideration, make further revisions to the draft maps, and/or create a new map. All versions would then be reviewed at a public hearing in October.
BACKGROUND: The timeline for establishing trustee areas and transitioning to by-trustee area election is as follows:
MDUSD REDISTRICTING TIMELINE
(Dates are subject to change to provide opportunities for greater community input if/as needed)
| DATE | ACTIVITY/ACTION |
| April 22, 2019 | MDUSD Board of Education discusses proposed action to transition from at-large election to by-trustee area (or district-based) elections, and introduces, as an information item, a Resolution Initiating Process of Establishing Trustee Areas and Elections by Trustee Areas
The Board also authorized the solicitation of a demographer to assist in the possible establishment of trustee areas for board elections. |
| May 13, 2019 | The Board adopts the Resolution Initiating Process of Establishing Trustee Areas and Elections by Trustee Areas and a preliminary redistricting timeline. |
| June 4 – June 24, 2019 | MDUSD initiates the process to submit a request to the State Board of Education to waive the requirement for a Special Election to be held in order to approve the trustee area maps. If the waiver application is approved by the State Board, it would allow the MDUSD Board to approve the maps after the required public hearings and community forums, and implement the new trustee-area elections for the elections in November 2020. |
| June 10, 2019 | First Public Hearing to solicit input from the public regarding the composition of the trustee areas. The hearing may potentially include a discussion of whether to create five or seven trustee area maps. |
| June 24, 2019 | Second Public Hearing to solicit input from the public regarding the composition of the trustee areas. The meeting may potentially include adoption of a resolution regarding the criteria to guide the creation of the trustee areas. The Board will also hold a public hearing on the request to the State Board of Education to waive the state requirement to call a Special Election to approve trustee-area maps. |
| August 21 – 29, 2019 | District holds a total of seven community forums over three days to provide community opportunity to review draft maps and provide input. |
| September 16, 2019 | Draft maps will be publicized, posted, and distributed. |
| September 23, 2019 | Third Public Hearing to solicit public input on draft maps of trustee areas and proposed sequence of elections and summarize input from community forums. The meeting may include potential Board action to narrow number of published draft maps for final consideration, and/or to direct the creation of one or more revised draft maps. The meeting may also provide for further public hearing activity on the waiver request to State Board of Education. |
| October 14, 2019 | Fourth Public Hearing to solicit public input on draft maps of trustee areas and proposed sequence of elections. The meeting will include resolutions to adopt the trustee-area maps and proposed sequence of elections, and to request a waiver of the Special Election requirement from the State Board of Education. |
| November 2019 | County Committee on School District Organization conducts public hearing within District boundaries. The Committee would be asked to approve the trustee areas and election method change. |
| November 2019 | The State Board of Education takes action on waiver request. |
| January 2020 | Information and map files of the new trustee areas provided to the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters. |
| November 2020 | First trustee-area (districts) elections are held. |
About Mt. Diablo Unified
MDUSD, located in Contra Costa County, is honored to serve approximately 32,000 students at one of more than 50 school sites in the cities of Clayton, Concord, Pleasant Hill; portions of Martinez, Pittsburg and Walnut Creek; and the unincorporated communities of Bay Point, Lafayette, and Pacheco. As part of a richly diverse community, MDUSD families represent numerous ethnic communities, speaking nearly 50 different languages and dialects. We offer award-winning innovative programs in Career Technical Education (CTE); Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); extensive visual and performing arts programs; and rich foreign language and dual immersion offerings. MDUSD is pleased to have the only International Baccalaureate (IB) program in Contra Costa County, and one of only three middle college programs regionally, our College Now program. Learn more at http://www.mdusd.org/.