[KHTS] – Castaic Union school officials approved a move to a district-based electoral system Thursday, officials said, while also giving information to parents about transportation concerns.

Every public school district in the Santa Clarita Valley adjusted its electoral process after three lawsuits were filed in June 2013, and a series a of letters were sent to the rest essentially promising similar action if alleged California Voting Rights Act violations are not addressed.

The CVRA lawsuits essentially contend that at-large elections — in which the voting body can select all members of a particularly governing board — allow for racially polarized voting in the SCV, meaning a voting bloc can deny minority voters a chance to select their candidate of choice.

The changes are expected to take place during the 2017 election, pending the approval of Los Angeles County election officials.

The actual districts voters will be split by have not yet been designated at this time.

District staff also presented information about possible adjustments to transportation need, said Steve Teeman, board president.

“There was a lot of information about the value of general education transport versus special education transportation,” Teeman said, noting the board received reports and analysis with staff that were shared with the public at Thursday’s meeting.
Administrators are looking at numerous alternatives, including the potential for combining the service for the two groups, if and when it’s affordable.

The overall expected costs for the bus service as projected, before any potential service adjustments, is about $483,000 — about $210,000 of that cost coming from non-state-mandated service to general education students, according to staff data.
However, the district only takes in about $225,000 in revenue to cover bus service, which is already significantly less than the $272,000 price tag of the state-mandated special education service.

The idea is to maximize the service where the district can afford it, he said. The transportation item is expected to be an action item at the board’s meeting in June, meaning the board would be making a decision.

The transportation discussion came as part of an effort by the governing board to address a $4.1 million shortfall in the budget projection for 2015-16. District officials agreed to part ways with its superintendent in a closed session deal at its last board meeting.

“We hope to have community input,” Teeman said. “It’s always helpful and we want to make sure everyone is aware (about the changes).”