Transition to By-Trustee Area Election System
Adopted Trustee Area Map
On October 15, 2025, the Governing Board approved Resolution 25-26-20, adopting the trustee area plan and demographic information described as "Map Scenario 2." This plan establishes the new trustee areas for the District's transition to a by-trustee area election system, commencing with the 2026 Governing Board election.
The election schedule is as follows:
- By-trustee area elections in Areas 1, 3, and 5 will be held in November 2026.
- By-trustee area elections in Areas 2 and 4 will be held in November 2028.
The resolution and plan were made contingent upon the approval by the County Committee on School District Organization, which subsequently approved the AUHSD resolution and plan by adopting Contra Costa County Resolution 14-25/26 A on November 12, 2025.
The interactive map tool allows users to search for addresses, zoom in, click on multiple maps at the same time to see the differences, and overlay high school boundaries, elementary school boundaries, and city/census-designated places (CDPs) boundaries.
Background
At the Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Special Meeting of the Governing Board, the Board considered and adopted Resolution 25-26-01 initiating a transition to a "By-Trustee Area" election system commencing with the 2026 Governing Board Election. Please see the timeline below for opportunities for public input. ("Demand letter" from Shenkman & Hughes)
Please note, that this process has no impact on student and school attendance boundaries.
In 2002, the California State Legislature enacted the California Voting Rights Act ("CVRA"), which prohibits the use of at-large elections of governing board members for a school district if it "impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election…." (Elections Code § 14027, emphasis added.) Under the CVRA, the only election system that provides an accepted “safe harbor” from a potential CVRA claim is a “by-trustee area” election system. Under a “by-trustee area” election system, a school district is divided into separate trustee areas and one governing board member is elected by the registered voters in that particular trustee area, rather than the community at-large. Acalanes Union High School District (“District”) currently employs an “at-large” election system for the purposes of electing Governing Board members.
Adopting this resolution began a 90-day window for the District to complete the required steps for a transition to a “by-trustee area” election system (Elec. Code § 10010(e)(3)(B)). Pre-Map Public Hearings occurred over a period of 30 days, on August 6 and August 20, 2025 (Elec. Code § 10010(a)(1)). Map Public Hearings occurred over a period of 45 days, on September 3, September 17 and October 15, 2025 (Elec. Code § 10010(a)(2)).
The District utilized the services of a professional demographer to prepare draft trustee voting area plans for community and Board review. The demographer worked with the District’s legal counsel to ensure that all draft trustee area map options comply with the CVRA and other districting requirements. The process of establishing the trustee areas involved using the demographic data from the 2020 Census, in addition to other, accepted population and demographic information.
The community was invited to provide feedback and participate in the Public Hearings as the Governing Board proceeded with this transition and decision-making process. Information provided included draft trustee area maps for consideration, a summary of public feedback, and Board presentations made by the District's legal counsel and demographer.