BUSD adopts new trustee maps

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Bonsall Unified School District adopted maps for updated election trustee areas.

A 5-0 BUSD board vote Feb. 16 approved the new trustee areas. The board considered three potential maps and chose what was referred to as Scenario 1.

“We actually saw very small geographical changes as far as the lines,” said BUSD Superintendent Joseph Clevenger. “It’s very similar to our pre-existing map.

The Bonsall district transitioned from electing board members at large to elections by trustee area in 2019. Elections by trustee area require candidates to live in that trustee area and the election for that seat is by voters within that trustee area.

Trustee Area 1 is the area west of Sleeping Indian Road; Trustee Area 2 is the rest of the area west of State Route 76 at its bend as well as land east of State Route 76 and south of Camino Del Rey; some of the land south of Camino Del Rey is in Trustee Area 3 which also includes most of the district area south of West Lilac Road; Trustee Area 4 is mostly north of West Lilac Road and extends east of Interstate 15, and all of Trustee Area 5 is east of Interstate 15 including the Pala Indian Reservation.

Local agencies are allowed to revise their trustee area boundaries, contingent upon the areas having approximately equal population and the boundaries not being drawn to disenfranchise any specific group, as the district feels is warranted. A district normally utilizes the census every 10 years to revise its boundaries, although the BUSD could change the boundaries earlier if growth in an area creates an unequal population.

“This is a process we do every 10 years,” Clevenger said.

The Jan. 19 BUSD board meeting included a public hearing on potential maps, although that was not a voting item at the January meeting and the board did not make a recommendation for a preferred map.

In 2019, the five trustee areas had a combined population of 17,087. The 2020 census gave the school district a population of 19,632, which equates to a target population of 3,926 for each trustee area. Under the map approved by the board, Trustee Area 1 will have 3,972 people; Trustee Area 2 will have a population of 3,867; Trustee Area 3 will have 3,896 residents; Trustee Area 4 will have 3,808 people, and Trustee Area 5 will have 4,089 residents.

The eastern portion of Trustee Area 1 was moved into Trustee Area 2, an eastern segment of Trustee Area 2 became part of Trustee Area 3 as did a small part of Trustee Area 4, and some boundaries between Trustee Area 4 and Trustee Area 5 were altered.

The five trustees who were in office in 2019 were allowed to keep their seats until the expiration of their term. The two seats up for election in November 2020 were subject to the trustee area election and residence requirements, and Larissa Anderson and Eric Ortega were elected that year.

The other three seats will be subject to the trustee area elections in November 2022. Michael Gaddis and Lou Riddle live in the same trustee area, so they can’t both return to the board after November’s election. Roger Merchat lives in his trustee area, which is also subject to election in 2022.

“We will be looking for a board representative for the Arrowood community or the Bonsall West community to fill out an open seat,” Clevenger said.