By Uy Pham
The Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) Board of Trustees voted to approve a new trustee area map election system at the Sept. 19 board meeting. This is the first time HBUHSD will use a trustee area map to elect its board members since the district was formed around 1902.
Demographers and legal counsel presented four scenarios to the HBUHSD Board of Trustees. The board unanimously approved Scenario A to be the chosen trustee area map.
The transition will begin in the 2024 and 2026 election cycles. Education Code 5020 would have required an approval of this proposal from district voters, but HBUHSD asked the county committee to waive this requirement. HBUHSD Board of Trustee Dr. Bonnie Castrey clarified to Baron Banner that this is a normal part of the process.
Each board member will represent one of five separate areas within the school district; only the residents in that area’s boundaries can vote for that area’s board member. This will be a change from the previous at-large voting system, where residents of the entire district could vote for all five board members.
The board member representing a certain area must also reside in that area.
Trustee area map information
Trustee Area 1 will encompass the approximate northeast region of the district along with Fountain Valley and Valley Vista High Schools. There are no incumbent board members residing in this area.
Trustee Area 2 will encompass the approximate upper northwestern portion of the district and Ocean View, Westminster and Coast High Schools as well as Huntington Beach Adult School. Trustee Area 3 will cover the eastern region along with Marina High School. Trustee Area 4 contains the south region and Huntington Beach High School.
Trustee Area 5 represents the southeast region and Edison High School. Currently, two incumbent board members reside in this area Dr. Duane Dishno and Dr. Michael Simons.
According to the demographers and attorneys at the Sept 19. board meeting, the maps considered school attendance boundaries but the final map does not resemble these attendance boundaries.
Trustee Areas 1 and 3 will be up for election in 2024, with the remaining three areas holding elections in 2026.
Reasons for the trustee area system
California’s Legislature passed the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) in 2002. The legislation strongly discouraged an at-large system due to the potential of racially polarized voting, or the difference between the choice of candidates for the minority group compared to the electorate as a whole.
Previously, HBUHSD Attorney Mr. Reinhardt clarified that the HBUHSD experienced no racial polarization within the 2022 board member election. However, the reasons for the switch came due to a lawsuit against HBUHSD.
“I think we are the victims of an attorney out to make money where he can, and a single person who has become the person who brought this suit,” Dr. Simons said at the Sept. 19 board meeting. “I think I know the reasons why this person has done this, and it is unfortunate they are using this to take advantage of a school district [that] I think has been run exceptionally well for many, many years.”
Baron Banner reached out to Dr. Simons and the rest of the board for comment regarding litigation. Dr. Castrey and Board of Trustees President Diana Carey responded, but declined to comment specifically regarding the existing litigation.
Trustee area implementation
In total, demographers and attorneys presented four different options to the HBUHSD Board of Trustees. The demographers created two scenarios originally, Scenario A and B; in addition, a member of the public submitted a community map. As a result, demographers created a fourth and final Scenario C with slight modifications to the community map.
One of the requirements includes that there must be less than a 10% population variance between each trustee area. All proposed scenarios would have met this requirement.
However, out of the four options, only Scenario A would create an area where a minority group had a majority of the population. This would be Trustee Area 1, where 51.5% of the voting age population would be Asian. Board members also cited the overall population balance and school location boundaries as reasons for approving Scenario A.
“I do feel like Scenario A is the most representative for all the reasons … keeping together the communities for the following as closely as we can, the attendance areas,” HBUHSD Board of Trustee Susan Henry said at the Sept. 19 board meeting. “It’s incumbent on us to look at the data that we do not have representation, to provide an area for which representation can be run and be elected. Those are the things CVRA intends.”
HBUHSD hosted four public hearings for the trustee area process. The meetings on May 9 and May 23 were set for map input, and Aug. 8 and Sept. 19 were for input on the proposed maps. However, board members pointed out how no public input, including any questions or input regarding the maps, was received at any of the four meetings.
Dishno suggested that this meant community members would not agree with the change, but there was an obligation to follow the law.
“I think that the reason we are doing this is because the suit was being brought against us,” Dr. Dishno said at the Sept. 19 board meeting. “I do not think the community supports this. But the law is the law, and we’ve all sworn to uphold this.”
The approved map will be sent to the Orange County Committee on School District Organization. If approved, the map will be submitted to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. According to Trustee Castrey’s understanding, the county committee has approved the map, and it will be in effect for the 2024 and 2026 elections.
“People in this community are used to voting for every board member,” Castrey said. “I think that people are going to suddenly realize [when they receive their ballot] that they don’t get to vote for everybody and vote for one person … [The trustee area] process was wide open, and we had hoped to hear from people.”
