Measure F would allow by-area Modesto City Schools elections

Measure F asks for no new taxes or fees, only permission to change one sentence in the Modesto City Charter.

From: The members of the Board of Education shall be elected at large from the territory without the boundaries of the school district or districts which are under the jurisdiction of the Board.

To: The Board of Education shall select a method of election for its members, by resolution, including but not limited to trustee or at large, in accordance with Chapter 1, Part 4, Division1, Title 1 of the California Education Code, or any succeeding statute.

The sentence as it stands decrees that Modesto City Schools Board members be elected at large, meaning they represent the entire district and any voter within the district can run.

The legal phrasing proposed to replace it opens the door to electing by trustee area, seven areas of roughly equal population that would each elect their own representative, a voter who lives there.

Voters should know as they consider this measure, said Modesto City Schools attorney Roman Munoz, that the district will likely be sued if it fails.

“If Measure F does not pass, there is a high percentage possibility it would be sued,” Munoz told attendees at a Latino Community Roundtable meeting Oct. 8.

LCR pushed for school districts to switch from at large to trustee area districts to align with the California Voting Rights Act and avoid expensive legal challenges.

The first such suit was against the city of Modesto, ending with the city paying a $3 million settlement in 2007 and splitting into districts. In May, the city of Palmdale agreed to pay a $4.5 million settlement, plus interest, and split into districts.

Losing is basically a given, Munoz and demographer Justin Levitt told the group.

“What they need to show is what is called racially polarized voting. Do (voters in one racial group) vote differently?” Levitt said. “I can tell you, for every jurisdiction you can find that to be the case.”

Measure F does not force the district to split or make any decisions about where it might split, it simply gives the school board the option to do so, Munoz added.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Measure F would allow by-area Modesto City Schools elections."