School trustees prefer
seven-member board

BY EARLENE WARD - FOR THE SIERRA STAR

The Yosemite Joint Union High School District and Coarsegold Union School District trustees have reaffirmed their commitment to a seven-member board should the two districts unify.

During a public hearing Dec. 8, the YJUHSD board voted 3-0 and the CUSD board voted 3-2 to forward a recommendation to the state that a unified board have seven members from apportioned areas voted for at large. At the same time, they instructed Bill McCabe, superintendent of both districts, to continue working with the Madera County Committee on District Reorganization on a configuration for a five-person board if that is what the State Board of Education selects.
The county committee on reorganization had voted Dec. 7 to recommend to the state a five-person board with trustee areas and voted for at large.

McCabe consulted a state reorganization specialist Dec. 8 to ask if it would interfere with the unification process if the county and the districts differed on their preference for board composition. She assured him it would not.

After four public hearings in September, it was concluded that a seven-person board would best meet the needs of a unified district. The recommendation at that time was that there be three members from the Bass Lake Union Elementary School District, three from the Coarsegold Union School District and one from Raymond. McCabe was later notified that this configuration would not meet constitutional requirements of equal representation.

The districts hired a demographer to draw apportioned maps for five and seven members. Apportionments are determined by census figures every 10 years. Apportioned areas can only have a two percent difference in the number of people; for the area represented by the unified district that would be 59 people. There are currently 21,372 registered voters in the area, meaning that each area, in a seven-person configuration, would have between 3,023 and 3,082 people.
The expectation now is that the unification petition will go before the State Board of Education in March 2005. If the board finds that the unified district would meet all of nine required criteria it will most likely approve the petition. If it is approved by the state in March, the question of whether or not to unify the two districts would be on the November 2005 ballot.

New board members would be on the same ballot as the unification question. If unification is approved, the new board members would be seated. The separate boards of YJUHSD and CUSD would continue to function as well until July 1, 2006 at which time those two boards would cease to exist and the unified board would take over the operation of the new district.

McCabe and several board members emphasized the importance of working with the county to come up with the most workable five-person configuration if that should be the decision of the state.

While some board members and some in the audience were puzzled as to why the county committee would select something different than the districts want, McCabe said “I think they did a thorough job” of researching and discussing the issue.

“They wouldn’t do anything hurtful to us,” he said.

Board members commented that while they favor a seven-person board for a variety of reasons, they could work with a five-person board and if that is the state’s decision they will support it and move forward.
YJUHSD Trustee Linda Olson, who represents the Coarsegold area, said “I’ve made a commitment to unification; I support a seven-person board but I can accept five. We need to have a plan to work with a five-person board. Unification is what we want.”

CUSD Trustee John Reynolds said while he agreed with the original seven-person concept he thought the board should try to work with the county’s decision for five “so we’re not in a contest with the county.”

About 40 people were present at the public hearing and four people addressed the board, all saying they supported a seven-person board.
Some of the reasons given were more local representation, everyone is better represented and the seven-person board would satisfy more people.

McCabe said the key question is “What would represent you best?” He said part of the rationale for a seven-person board is that it helps meet one of the nine criteria which is to maintain community identity.

Five could lose community identity, he said, giving the example of a five-person board including a trustee who represents both Yosemite Lakes Park and Raymond.

A unification committee has been working over two years on the petition to unify the two districts. The two districts currently share a superintendent, business manager, transportation supervisor and cafeteria manager.