POMONA – The Pomona Unified School District Board of Education at its March 3 meeting selected a five-trustee area voting map to present to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization for consideration and approval.

The District’s shift from an at-large voting system of electing school board members to a trustee-area model next allows for the County Committee to hold a public hearing on Wednesday, March 18 in the PUSD Board Room to gather additional input from community members. In April, the Committee is expected to determine the final number of board member seats and provide final approval of the proposed trustee map, which would then be delivered to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office in May.

Pomona Unified could hold its first trustee-area election concurrent with the November 2015 election.

“I want to thank community members for their participation in this process, and I want to commend the Board of Education for making this difficult decision,” Superintendent Richard Martinez said. “Regardless of the outcome, we will continue to do our best to represent the entire community and ensure the success of every single student in our District.”

The shift from at-large to trustee-area means that instead of residents voting for any board candidate on the ballot irrespective of where in the PUSD District boundaries they live, residents would vote for a candidate residing in their newly drawn trustee-area, which is typically based on geography.

Board members considered several possible draft voting maps that were created by professional demographer Doug Johnson, who utilized input from more than 200 community members who participated in the District’s five public hearings and a student meeting in February.

The District has submitted a request for a waiver to the California Department of Education so that it will not have to hold a special election to make the shift and instead hold new trustee-area elections concurrent with the November election. Some trustee area seats will likely come up for vote at that time and the remaining seats in November 2017.

For more information, contact the Superintendent’s Office at (909) 397-4800, ext. 23882.