None of the four current trustees in the Sweetwater Union High School District board lives west of Interstate 805. The western part of the large middle and high school district hasn’t been properly represented in the past, according to community members. Instead, many of the board members have come from the affluent communities of Bonita and Eastlake, something that has led to the western and southern parts of the district to be neglected.

The demographics of the Sweetwater school board could be very different thanks to a proposed change in the way school board members in Sweetwater are elected. The move has been approved by the San Diego County Board of Education, which is overseen and implementing the process.

Under the new election system, the district, which extends from Imperial Beach and San Ysidro to National City and Chula Vista, would be divided into geographic areas, and one board member living in each area would be elected by the voters who live in that area, according to the San Diego County Office of Education.

In its March 12 meeting, the San Diego County Board of Education approved a petition to file an election waiver with the state in order to implement the new system in the November 2014 elections, when three of the five seats in the Sweetwater school board are up for election.

The San Diego County Office of Education is inviting the community to voice its opinions, suggestions, and concerns, during a public hearing meeting scheduled for March 20th, at 6 p.m., at the board room of the Administration Center of the Sweetwater Union High School District, located at 1130 Fifth Ave., in Chula Vista.

“It is important to the public to attend the public hearing because our board will make a decision on the actual boundaries of the trustee areas,” said Lora Duzyk, assistant superintendent of Business Services for the San Diego County Office of Education. “We have the demographic data, but we need input from the communities represented. We need to know where the communities’ boundaries are drawn, where are those neighborhoods that have things in common.”

There are three different proposed maps with varying boundaries and the county board will choose one of the three after the March 20th public hearing.

Duzyk said that the public has been very supportive of the trustee area proposal, which was requested by Citizens for a Better Sweetwater, a community group formed by parents, residents, and teachers, from throughout the school district.

“We have received nothing but positive feedback from the community,” she said, adding that Spanish-speaking parents can also voice their opinion, since interpretation services will be available at the public hearing.

In a statement from the Sweetwater Union High School District sent to La Prensa San Diego, district officials said that they will support the community’s decision on this issue.

“The Sweetwater Union High School District supports the will of the community with regards to establishing trustee areas within its geographic boundaries. The district will support the decision made by the San Diego County Board of Education,” the statement reads.

Gene Chavira, a social science teacher at Mar Vista High School, in Imperial Beach, is the founder of Citizens for a Better Sweetwater. He said that the trustee area system is a direct result of the corruption case in the Sweetwater board, which includes three of the current members, and resulted in the resignation of another board member last year.

But the main reason is that Chavira and others want to see positive change in the school district, and want to make sure all students are represented on the school district board.

“There are no trustees living west of the 805,” he said. “This is a problem, because many communities are left behind with no representation.”

Chavira said he’s very happy with the results of the process so far, stating that many parents at Mar Vista High School and from other schools have shown great support for the new system.

“The parents are speaking up,” he said. “Parents in Imperial Beach, South San Diego, and San Ysidro, want to make sure their children and their schools are being properly represented.”

To learn more about the Sweetwater Union High School District trustee area process, and to view maps of the proposed divisions within the district, please visit www.sdcoe. net, and clink on the Sweetwater Updates and Information link.