Don't Like Appointments to the EGUSD Board? The Alternative is a Million Dollars

Anyone who thinks the 's Board of Education shouldn't appoint new board members could still do something to change , but it wouldn't be cheap.

Every time a school board appoints a new member, the public has 30 days to challenge that appointment and force the district to hold a special election. Since , any registered voter could turn in a petition by Monday. It would need to be signed by 1 1/2 percent of the number of registered voters in the last district elections–a figure that totals 2,091 signatures, according to Sacramento County Elections Office spokesman Brad Buyse.

He said the county elections office always recommends collecting 20 percent more signatures than the requirement–418 people in this case–in case the petitioners aren't registered or live outside of the district.

If that were to happen, it would legally require the school district to hold a special election, at a cost of $969,000, he said.

The other option for people who don't like a specific board appointment is to wait until the next time the seat comes up for election and find someone else to run, Buyse said. He said in his 10 years in Sacramento County, that's the option he has always seen chosen.

"Most people realize it's an unnecessary cost [for a situation] that can be rectified or corrected the next time that position's on the ballot," Buyse said.

Current trustees who first came to the board by an appointment include Singh-Allen, Jake Rambo () and Al Rowlett ().

District Can't Legally Piggyback on Existing Election

But why hold a special election at a cost of nearly a million dollars when there's already one happening in November? It's the law.

When a school board seats comes vacant, that body is required by state law to fill it within 60 days. If the board doesn't do that, the county superintendent of instruction is required to force a special election to fill the seat.

But there's no way to include a seat on an election that's 60 days out, when sample ballots have already been printed.

"It's way too late," Buyse said, adding that if a government agency wants to include a seat on an election, it must pass a resolution calling for the election 130 days in advance.

So while and some voters may disagree with the process of filling school board seats by appointment, the process isn't likely to change anytime soon.

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