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FUESD plans vote Feb. 7 on redistricting

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

Trustees of the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District plan to vote on new area boundaries at their next meeting Monday, Feb. 7. At the Jan. 24 meeting, members heard of a new option, Scenario 3A and voted unanimously to reduce the number of options from five to three in the redistricting based on the 2020 census.

Each of the remaining options, Scenario 1, Scenario 2 and Scenario 3A have slight variations in Trustee Area 3, the downtown area that has a strong Hispanic population. Scenario 2A and Scenario 3 were dropped, and the board also decided to look at no other options.

Since the enactment of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, school districts started structuring voting by geographic areas, rather than open districts where a trustee could live anywhere in the area. The first FUESD election with the new format was in 2020.

Every 10 years, to coincide with the new census, districts have the responsibility of making sure populations are close to being the same in each area.

In addition to equal population and keeping "majority minority" areas, when possible, other factors for the board to consider are communities of interest and maintaining the stability of the board. In most of the final scenarios being considered, existing board members reside in separate areas, so there would be no incumbent versus incumbent choices for voters.

Two board members – Susan Liebes, vice president, and Caron Lieber, former president – are up for reelection this year. The terms of Suzanne Lundin, president; JoAnn Lopez, clerk; and Ricardo Favela, member, expire in 2024.

The Jan. 24 meeting – held virtually only – included a presentation by the demographers and board discussion, as well as public comments. Most of the speakers at the public hearing were in favor of Scenario 3 or Scenario 3A. There was no official "score" but Scenario 3A garnered the most support from the public.

Favela, who represents Trustee Area 3, said it was important to review data presented versus "on the ground" research. He described visiting downtown areas and talking to people.

"It's interesting to see what it looks like on the ground," he said, noting an area west of Mission has a strong military population that would suggest it be put in another area.

Lundin seemed ready to call for a final vote at the Jan. 24 session, but others said not to rush to a decision. Scenario 3A had only been finalized the day before the meeting and the consensus was that residents may need more time to review the boundaries and comment.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lundin said community input was very important.

"The wonderful thing about a democracy is that it's grounded with tolerance of multiple viewpoints," she said. "I can assure you that this board will listen with respect and an open mind. We appreciate you taking the time to share your perspectives with us."

The district's webpage has both a link to watch the Jan. 24 meeting and a page showing the remaining options, fuesd.org/redistricting/.

The district has until March 1 to notify the county Registrar of Voters of its new area boundaries.

 

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