Under a trustee area-based election system (sometimes more generally called a “district-based” election system), the School District would be divided into five equally populated trustee areas. A candidate must reside within an election area and is elected only by voters residing within that same election area.
Districting determines which neighborhoods and communities are grouped together into a trustee area for purposes of electing a Board of Education member. The Board will seek input in selecting the first trustee area-based election map. You have an opportunity to share with the Board how you think trustee area boundaries should be drawn to best represent your community, either during the public hearings or by submitting comments to [EMAIL].
Currently, five members are elected from the school district at large and serve four-year terms.
- Federal Laws
- Equal Population (based on total population of residents as determined by the most recent Federal decennial Census and adjusted by the State to reassign incarcerated persons to the last known place of residence)
- Federal Voting Rights Act
- No Racial Gerrymandering
- California Criteria for School Districts (to the extent practicable and in the following order of priority)
- Geographically contiguous (areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or ferry service are not contiguous.
- Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” (Socio-economic geographic areas that should be kept together for purposes of its effective and fair representation)
- Undivided cities and Census-Designated Places (a Census-Designated Place is an unincorporated area defined by the Census Bureau. Areas like East Los Angeles, Hacienda Heights, and South San Gabriel are Census-Designated Places).
- Easily identifiable boundaries
- Compact (Do not bypass one group of people to get to a more distant group of people)
- Prohibition on drawing districts to favor or disfavor incumbents or potential political challengers, or political parties.
The Board of Education will be holding hearings to receive public input on where trustee area lines should be drawn. Check the schedule page for the most updated dates but please note the schedule is subject to change.
You can also submit public comments, including suggested draft maps, by emailing districting@montebello.k12.ca.us.
These are standard categories included in the Census. Not all of the categories are relevant for creating trustee area maps. Acronyms include:
- NH: Non-Hispanic
- VAP: Voting age population
- CVAP: Citizen Voting Age Population
- CVRA: California Voting Rights Act
- NDC: National Demographics Corporation (the firm hired by the District to create the maps)
No, you can draw boundaries for one or more trustee areas, or even just the community where you’d like your neighborhood to be.
Yes, you may submit more than one map. Please draw as many maps as you like. We suggest you submit only your top 2-3 preferred maps to assist the Board of Education in focusing on the map that best represents your community; however, there is no limit.
Once submitted, maps are considered public records. The District will post all legally-compliant submitted maps on its website.
There are a number of online publications and guides to redistricting. You can start with this one from MALDEF and the NAACP, or this (long) one from the Brennan Center, this one from the League of Women Voters, or this FAQ from the California Independent Redistricting Commission.