• FONTANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

    NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

    San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Virtual Public Hearing

    PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the County Committee will conduct its public hearings under the provisions for virtual meetings authorized by Assembly Bill (AB) 361. 


    The purpose of this hearing, pursuant to Education Code Section 35720.5, is for the County Committee to hear public comment on the proposed establishment of By-Trustee Area elections
    of Governing Board Members for the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ (“District”). The current method is At-Large elections. If by resolution the County Committee grants the District’s request
    to change its method of election, the County Committee will conduct a second public hearing to hear public comment on waiving the election requirements to establish trustee election areas as
    authorized by Senate Bill (SB) 442 that became effective January 1, 2022. For further information regarding this public hearing, please click here.

  • Trustee Area Map Selected by the Board of Education

    Conceptual Trustee Area - Scenario 6 (Public Submission)

    Scenario 6

    Scenario 6

    Spanish

    To view FUSD demographic data information for the entire district, please click the link below:

    English

     

    Background

    Board members in the ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ are currently elected in “at-large” elections, where all board members are elected by voters throughout the entire school district. On November 22, 2021, the Board adopted Resolution No. 21-29 - Resolution of Intent to comply with the California Voting Rights Act. FUSD intends to transition from at-large to by-trustee area Board elections, where each Board member must reside within the designated trustee area boundary, and is elected only by the voters in that trustee area. Voters would only vote for one seat on the school board.

    On October 11, 2021, ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ received a Demand for Compliance with the California Voting Rights Act from the law office of Carlos R. Perez.  To view this letter, click here.

    Process and Next Steps

    San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office (SBCSS) will hold the following virtual public hearings related to the transition of FUSD to By-Trustee Area Elections where members of the public are encouraged to attend virtually and make public comments on the by-trustee area election:

     

    Past Actions and Public Hearing

    • November 22, 2021 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Board of Education Adopted Resolution No. 21-29 approving the Board of Education's Intent to comply with the California Voting Right Act.  This resolution passed with a vote of 4-1 with Ayes from A. Perez, J. Quesada, M. Sandovol, M. Serna and Nay from J. Armendarez. A copy of the resolution can be found here.
    • December 15, 2021 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a Public Hearing: First Input on Compositions of Trustee Area Maps. There were 2 public comments. The meeting video can be found (starting at 2:31:10).
    • January 14, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a Public Hearing: Second Input on Compositions of Trustee Area Maps. There were 3 public comments. The meeting video can be found (starting at 44:00)
    • January 19, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a Public Hearing: Third Input on Compositions of Trustee Area Maps. There was 1 public comment. The meeting video can be found  (starting at 53:00).
    • January 26, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a special meeting to review proposed trustee area scenarios. These trustee area scenarios are posted above for review and comments. To view the presentation reviewed by the board of education click here.
    • February 2, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a First Public Hearing on proposed Trustee Area Maps. The meeting video can be found (starting at 2:52:41).
    • February 16, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a Second Public Hearing on proposed Trustee Area Maps as well as a Public Hearing on Waiver request.  The meeting video can be found (starting at 3:22:47).
    • March 2, 2022 -  ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ held a third Public Hearing on proposed Trustee Area Maps during the special board meeting.  There were 3 public comments received at this meeting.
    • March 9, 2022 - ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Board of education considered and approved a trustee area map as well as the resolution to transition to by-trustee area elections.  The map approved by the board was public submission, proposed map #6. 

     

    All Proposed Trustee Area Maps

    To view the presentation regarding initially considered trustee area maps reviewed by the board of education click here.

    Waiver Request

    When districts transition to By-Trustee Area elections, the normal process is to have the San Bernardino County Committee on School District Organization review the maps, public hearings, etc. for approval.  At that time the committee will pass a resolution allowing the transition to by-trustee areas using the approved map, and as part of the process an election will be held regarding if the district should transition. This process can be waived in the event that a demand letter to take action has been received, causing a narrow timeline to take action, which is the case with ÂãÁÄÖ±²¥. To avoid the costs and uncertainty of an election, all of the school districts that have undertaken this process have sought and received a waiver of the election requirement. It is recommended that the Board hold a public hearing on the waiver request and include a request that the County Committee grant a waiver within the Board’s transition resolution.  This information was presented to the board of education during the February 2, 2022 Board of Education meeting.  That presentation can be found below.

    Trustee Area Election Waiver Presentation