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news
By- trustee Elections
New map plans are being introduced for the by-trustee system.
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Ziyuan Ma, Staff Writer
an Mateo Union High School District is currently preparing for the transition to by-trustee area elections, which will be implemented in the 2022 and 2024 elections. In the current system,known as at-large elections, candidates wishing to be elected as a board trustee can reside anywhere in the district. Voters can choose to vote for any of the candidates. In the by-trustee system, the district is split into zones. Each zone is represented by one of the board seats, while each candidate runs for the seat representing the zone the candidate resides in. The voters only vote for the candidates residing in the same zones as them. There are 2 pre-map public hearings on August 26th and September 9th to discuss the upcoming transition. On or about January 25th, the school district received a letter from an attorney at law firm Shenkman and Hughes PC accusing the at-large election system of violating the Civil Voting Rights Act of 2001 (“CVRA”) by being “racially polarized.” In other words, the system dilutes the voice of minorities and doesn’t allow their chosen candidates to win. According to the presentation from public agency law firm Lozano Smith at the August 26th board meeting, not only will going to court be extremely costly from litigation fees, it is highly unlikely the school district will even win. The law firm said that the only way to guarantee the school district won’t be sued is to transition to by-trustee elections. On February 25th, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted for Resolution 20-21-12 to begin the transition process. When asked about her opinion on the change by The Thunderbolt, Trustee Linda Lees Dwyer believes that despite the district being forced to transition, this new election system will increase representation from communities that don’t in the old system. She said, “I want more varied voices. I want to see current high school parents become board members. When I first ran for the board, I had 1 in college, 3 in high school and 1 in junior high school. I had lived and was living the high school parent life--and I brought that with me to the board… We have no board members now with children in the schools. This change could facilitate more age and ethnic diversity-which is good.” Dwyer said that even if she loses her ability to run in the next election, this is the right thing to do. The Thunderbolt also interviewed several other people, including Mills’ teachers. They agreed that this change would be positive. One source knowledgeable about the subject said that if a candidate wants to represent an area, they should live in that area. A candidate living far away won’t know enough about the area to make important decisions. Trustee Ligia Andrade Zúñiga thought that the outcome might not be better. “I think this situation could go both ways… it could be that there is not as much diversity in the candidacy, or accessibility in the process [than] people thought. I think we are all just trying to understand and learn more about how this process works.” She pointed out that becoming a candidate is still expensive and inaccessible for many people. During the August 26th pre-map hearing, the board discussed criterias that should be used to split the district into zones. According to a presentation from National Demographics Corporation, the district must take into account the federal requirements. The zones should consist of about the same population, and there should be no racial gerrymandering. An article from the Washington Post states that “racial gerrymandering” is when the map is split in a way that minimizes the representation of minorities in the government. For instance, it is considered “racial gerrymandering” if the map is designed so that there are significantly more non-minorities than minorities in each zone. The voice of the non-minorities will drown out the voice of the minorities. National Demographic Corporation also discussed common factors used to split an area into different zones, such as visible boundaries, anticipated future growth, and communities of interest. The Corporation defined communities of interests as groups of people having “shared social or economic interest.” One criteria the Board frequently mentioned should be used is that each zone should have more than one school. The Board thought that if each trustee represents only one city or one school, the trustee will only look out for the zone’s own interest instead of the entire school district. Trustee Dwyer hoped that high school students will involve themselves in the transition process. “This would be a great exercise for the government classes--to participate in our meetings on this issue and provide their analysis and input! I would really like the government classes to study this. This participation would give the board the perspective of many students from throughout the district...” Dwyer mentioned that many high school students will become eligible voters in the 2022 election. Trustee Zúñiga agreed with the idea of student involvement. “I would love to have a session with students to voice their opinions, ask questions, and give suggestions about what this should look like to them.” Zúñiga said that this might even encourage students to run for elected or appointed office in the future. There will be two map consideration hearings on January 20th and February 10th of next year. The large amount of time is needed to allow the demographer to be able to use the official redistricting 2020 Census results, which aren’t released at the time of this article. Drafts of the proposed maps will be released at least one week in advance of the hearings. There will be an online map review tool
Changes to Mills A
Magdalene Ko, News Editor
fter over a year of Zoom, there are bound to be plenty of changes to our daily routines at school. From completely different schedules to COVID rules to new programs, the coming year will be a readjustment for all of us. Here’s a quick preview of all the changes headed to Mills. Of course, the most important changes are all the COVID-19 requirements. First off, we’re required to wear masks indoors except when eating or drinking, yet masks aren’t needed outdoors. Social distancing isn’t needed indoors except when eating, although most will eat outside. Most students are already vaccinated, but if not, vaccinations are highly encouraged. If someone fully vaccinated comes into contact with someone COVID positive, they don’t have to quarantine. Unvaccinated people can continue attending school but have to take COVID tests twice a week for 10 days. Last but not least, if we’re sick we’re asked to stay home until feeling better, which is also the only time the LiveSafe app is needed. Another huge change is our schedules. Before COVID, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were our block days, while the other days had all periods. Typically school would start at 8:00 and end at 3:15. That all changed during Zoom, where we started late, ended early, and had much longer passing periods. Now, Monday is the day with all classes, starting at 8:30 like all other days, and ending at 3:35. Lunch will be 12:2012:50, and we’ll have a passing period of five minutes. Tuesdays and Thursdays have become our block days for even periods. Flex period is right after brunch, and 6th period ends at 2:55. Wednesdays and Fridays are odd period days, with 7th period ending at 3:40. These changes might be big, but there are plenty of other new things coming up. The tennis courts of Mills have been taken down and are being transformed into a new athletic complex. According to Principal Duszynski, the complex will be a huge asset for our school and our athletic program at Mills and the Millbrae community”. Mills is also joining with the district on a journey to become anti-racist. They’re implementing classes for all teachers and staff to learn to be inclusive as well as listening to feedback from students and teachers alike. A less noticeable change will be the social interactions of all of us. A year of learning online has changed our social lives, and we’re all a teeny bit nervous about returning to school and meeting everyone again. Maybe we’ve seen friends over the summer or went to hybrid learning, but it’s still not quite the same as seeing everyone again. Fortunately, Ms. Duszynski is hopeful that we’ll be able to rebuild our previous friendships and connections. Over the summer, she was able to see some incoming Freshmen interact at the Summer Bridge program. In the beginning, they were quiet and stuck to themselves. By the end, they had fun together, partially because of the community-building activities Ms. Kovacs and Ms. Montani constantly included. Ms. Duszynski wants to encourage all teachers to include more community building, and is hopeful that we can “re-establish our sense of community after last year”. This year, every single one of us will be undergoing changes. Seniors will worry about their future and colleges, then enjoy their last year (prom!). Juniors will stress over hard classes, tests, and careers while rekindling friendships made during a short freshman year. Sophomores will come onto campus without ever experiencing a regular Mills school day, meeting and learning about all the teachers, classmates, and activities they missed during COVID. Freshmen will enter a new stage in their lives, navigating a new social structure and mastering opening their lockers. New students and teachers will have come, others will have left. That doesn’t mean we’ll be completely confused when we go back. Together, we can navigate this return to school and fall back into new but normal days.
The cafeteria remains empty as students are required to eat outside.
