The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District has begun transitioning from at-large to trustee area elections.
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Historically, residents within district boundaries have elected trustees at large, meaning that all residents vote on all candidates. But in a process that kicked off with board approval in January, by 2026 the district will be divided into five trustee areas, and voters will only elect the trustee for the area where they live.
The district must now hold five separate public hearings in the coming months to eventually draw up and select maps for each trustee area, a process estimated to cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
Some questioned the need for such a change after the district’s long tradition of holding elections at large.
“This district has functioned very well with the open elections that we have had,” resident Lee Fagot said.
District staff said the change would enhance electoral fairness because it would ensure that each trustee resides in a different part of the district. Trustee Misty Davies said the longer the district waits to make such a change, the more it would open itself to the possibility of legal action.
The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 prohibits at-large school board elections. According to the district, moving to trustee area elections now is the best course of action in light of recent incidents in which other school districts and public agencies in the state have been targeted for alleged violations of the legislation.
“While we could wait until we are forced, if we do wait that long it will cost more money,” Davies said.
Some community members have been supportive of the impending changes, happening in the wake of the board appointing a new superintendent after dissatisfaction with a former superintendent resulted in his sudden departure.
Jen Young, president of the district’s teachers association, said the move would ensure that trustees are representing the entire district, and avoid the possibility of a board of trustees who all live in one part of town.
“We have been fortunate in recent years to have board members from different areas of the district, but that hasn’t always been the case and won’t necessarily be in the future. Moving to trustee area elections will ensure that voters in all parts of our district have a fair chance to elect someone who understands their unique needs,” Young said in an email.
