NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: For further information contact:
September 10, 2021 Ryan Brown
(Updated November 10, 2021) Email: ryan.brown@sjeccd.edu
SJECCD Seeks Public Input for Trustee Area Redistricting
(San José, Calif.) — San José – Evergreen Community College District (SJECCD) is currently conducting its decennial redistricting of the seven trustee area boundaries in accordance with the demographic results from the 2020 U.S. Census. The District invites input and support for the adjustments of these trustee area boundaries from community members during upcoming board meetings.
Public input can be shared via the following scheduled board meetings:
- November 16, 2021
- December 14, 2021
- January 25, 2022 and
- February 8, 2022 (if necessary)
These meetings begin at 6:15 p.m., with the redistricting item beginning at 7:30 p.m. The redistricting presentation is a time-certain agenda item, meaning it will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. regardless of which agenda item is being discussed at that time. Due to COVID-19, SJECCD board meetings currently meet in a hybrid format with a Zoom option available.
If you would like to provide input regarding the redistricting process, please visit http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/sjeccd/Board.nsf/Public for the most up-to-date information and meeting details.
This redistricting is required under California Education Code 5019.5 (a), which reads, in part, "Following each decennial federal census, and using population figures as validated by the Population Research Unit of the Department of Finance as a basis, the governing board of each school district or community college district in which trustee areas have been established, and in which each trustee is elected by the residents of the area he or she represents, shall adjust the boundaries of any or all of the trustee areas of the district…"
San José Evergreen Community College District is a trustee-area elections District, in which the trustees live in a specific area and are elected only by voters residing in that area. The District is required to adjust the boundaries of trustee areas and must ensure that the redistricting method does not deny or abridge the voting rights of a protected racial or language minority group consistent with the Federal Voting Rights Act and the California Voting Rights Act.
The District's process of re-drawing the boundaries of the trustee areas for the board of trustees following the 2020 federal census will be guided by the following board-approved principles:
- The new trustee areas should ensure the ability of minority racial and ethnic communities' equal opportunities to elect trustees of their own choosing, in accordance with the Voting Rights Act, thereby producing a diverse board representative for the community it serves;
- The trustee areas should be as nearly equal in total population as practicable, given consideration of all criteria;
- To the extent that trustee areas deviate from equality of population, consideration should be given to areas which in the past decade have grown disproportionate to other trustee areas;
- Changes in trustee area boundaries should be made with the maximum possible community involvement and participation;
- In determining boundaries of trustee areas, boundaries should follow geographic and topographic human-made features, whenever possible consistent with other criteria; and
- Trustee areas should have contiguous territory, be functionally cohesive, and honor communities of interest whenever possible, consistent with other criteria.
Updates of progress in this redistricting process, including trustee area maps, will be provided to the public through the SJECCD. In addition to the above-referenced board meetings, feedback can be submitted in writing by emailing Mr. Sam Ho, SJECCD's Director of Communications, Community Relations, and Diversity at sam.ho@sjeccd.edu.