Dear Benicia USD Community:
As the District continues to move through the process of transitioning to “by-Trustee-area” elections under the legal requirements of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), we have reached a critical point. The District is releasing three map options to the community for study and input. All three of the map options being considered meet the legal requirements outlined in CVRA.
The District is providing three in-person opportunities to the community to review and provide feedback over the next eight weeks before the Board of Education votes on December 12, 2019 for a map that will be put into effect for the November 2020 Board elections.
This release of map options comes at the end of the “Pre-Map” period wherein the District engaged the community with two public hearings to solicit input before drawing map options.
Each map option for consideration:
- Meets the equal population requirement (that each trustee area have equal population with up to a 10% variance);
- Increases the voting power of the largest protected classes in the District (Hispanic/Latino; Asian; and African American) by Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP/eligible voters) in at least one Trustee Area based on up-to-date CVAP statistics compared to District-wide averages;
- Complies with the Federal Voting Rights Act;
- Respects communities of interest as much as possible;
- Is compact and contiguous as much as possible; and
- Follows man-made and natural geographic features as much as possible.
Upcoming Meeting and Hearing Schedule
November 7, 2019 – 1st Public Hearing regarding Map Options at 7:00 p.m. during the Governing Board meeting at the District Office Board Room (350 East K Street, Benicia, CA 94510)
November 21, 2019 – 2nd Public Hearing regarding Map Options at 7:00 p.m. during the Governing Board meeting at the District Office Board Room (350 East K Street, Benicia, CA 94510)
December 12, 2019 – 3rd Public Hearing regarding Map Options at 7:00 p.m. and adopt map option during the Governing Board meeting at the District Office Board Room (350 East K Street, Benicia, CA 94510)
The Benicia community is invited to attend as many meetings and public hearings as you would like. If you cannot attend and wish to review and/or comment regarding the proposed map options under consideration, please submit your comments and feedback via this form: https://forms.gle/FsXcRjdM1g6oDpoEA. All map preference feedback will be relayed to the Board prior to its discussion and adoption of a map option.
We look forward to your continued participation!
All Map Options Are Also Available For Review Via This Interactive Google Map here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gbohxlsQlfGygqrwacVfRPva5IaHjyWj&usp=sharing
For the latest information regarding BY-TRUSTEE AREA ELECTIONS please check this page: https://beniciaunified.org/by-trustee-area-elections/