In 2012, the Ripon Unified School District realigned the Trusteeship Zones based on the 2010 U.S. Census population.

Administrator Kit Oase and his then colleague Ernie Tyhurst took on the workload of changing the electoral process in accordance with the “one person, one vote” principle.

Voters had their say in November 2014, approving Measure H – the proposal to change the method of electing school district administrators – by a margin of 2,486 to 2,127.

This paved the way for school board candidates to run for and be elected in each trustee zone.

Enter the 2020 US Census.

A new distribution could come with possible criteria / factors for the layout of the lines.

Elected leaders of the RUSD began discussions on this process at their monthly session on May 10.

Some of the criteria and factors that could be taken into account in redesigning the Trustee Limits include:

• Equal population.
• Contiguous territory.
• Communities of interest respected.
• Geographic compactness.
• No special protection is offered to cardholders.
• Growth corridors are provided where possible to help maintain population balance over time.

Administrators have already approved the proposed timelines and will look to schedule public meetings to review and collect community feedback on the requirements and factors to be used in the drawing lines.

The new provisional boundary map could be established by August or September.

Public hearings coupled with the display of the final map could take place later this year.

The newly drawn trusteeship zone boundaries could be in place in time for the November 2022 general election.