Untitled California Attorney General Opinion

BACKGROUND

California’s schools are organized into districts, and each district is governed by a school board. 1 The members of a school board—known as trustees—are elected to four- year terms, which are staggered such that roughly half the members are elected every two years.

The Education Code establishes a system governing elections of trustees to school boards. 2 The system permits school districts to choose among three methods of election: at-large elections, “by-trustee area” elections, and “from-trustee area” elections. 3 In an at-large system, each member of the board is elected by the voters of the entire district. 4 In a by-trustee area election, the member residing in each trustee area is elected by the voters of that trustee area. 5 In a from-trustee area election, the member is elected by the voters of the entire district, but the member must reside in their specific trustee area.

This request seeks to clarify the law on filling vacant positions on school district governing boards. The questions posed have become pressing in recent years, due to two unrelated factors occurring simultaneously. First, beginning in 2020, California has experienced a marked increase…