Fight over fairness of school board elections veers away from city

The city won’t be taking part in the dispute over how Modesto City Schools has divided its district boundaries into seven trustee areas as it moves away from electing trustees by districtwide vote.

Advocates for Justice — a Modesto group that mentors black and at-risk youth — and several other community activists say the map the school board approved in April favors sitting trustees and does not do enough to elect representatives from south and west Modesto, home to many minority and low-income families. The decision to split into seven trustee areas was made to comply with the California Voting Rights Act and increase representation for minority communities.

Four trustee areas will be on the November ballot.

Advocates for Justice and others had taken their case to the City Council in the last few weeks, asking the city to intervene. The city’s charter vests control of the school system with the school board, and the board needed the city’s approval before voters last year approved amending the charter to allow for trustee elections by area.

Council members asked City Attorney Adam Lindgren to research the matter and report back to them. He reported Tuesday that Modesto has no legal authority in this matter, which is the same conclusion reached by Roman Muñoz, the school district’s attorney.

Muñoz gave a presentation showing the steps the school district followed — including public outreach — as it changed how trustees are elected. He also has said the school district followed the law and established practices and the district cannot advantage or disadvantage sitting trustees in the new map.

“The process we went through was thorough,” Trustee John Walker told council members. “We went out and talked to the community. Drawing maps is not easy ... because it’s about elections.”

Tuesday’s meeting gave Advocates for Justice and others another opportunity to raise their concerns.

Several speakers told council members Modesto City Schools has not listened to them and did not do enough outreach with the community. “We bent over backwards to work with Modesto City Schools and we are still willing to work with Modesto City Schools,” Advocates for Justice co-founder and attorney Jacque Wilson said.

Speakers also said the school district is failing to provide a quality education to minority, low-income and other marginalized students. The school board “gives us one (trustee) seat maybe we can win,” community activist Miguel Donoso said. “The rest will be whites.”

Walker also criticized Councilman Tony Madrigal for failing to disclose at previous council meetings when this issue was discussed that he is an Advocates for Justice board member. Madrigal is listed as a board member on the group’s website and he appears in photos on the website.

Madrigal said he is not a board member but volunteers with Advocates for Justice. “I’m very proud of taking kids on the outings,” he said.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Fight over fairness of school board elections veers away from city."