AUSD announces plans to shift to trustee-area elections

By Mike Chaldu · Thu Aug 20 2026

AUSD announces plans to shift to trustee-area elections

Board makes decision during closed session after lawsuit was filed against district in May

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Unified School District Board of Trustees began the open session of the Tuesday, Aug. 18, meeting by announcing a major change in future board elections.

Board President Denise McGrew-Kane announced that in the previous closed session, the seven trustees voted unanimously to move from at-large elections to by-trustee-area elections.

"In closed session, the board voted to approve a settlement agreement related to the case Southwest Voter Registration Education Project v. Atascadero Unified School District [Case No.: 26CVP-0188]. The vote was unanimous," McGrew-Kane said. "The settlement agreement means the district will be transitioning from at-large elections, where all voters of the district vote for all seats on the board, to by-trustee-area elections.

As part of the agreement, the district shall pay plaintiff $120,000 for their attorney fees and costs."

In by-trustee-area elections, board members would represent to-be-determined trustee areas voted on by citizens in that area only. The trustee would have to reside in the trustee area that he or she is representing.

McGrew-Kane said the 2026 elections for the board would be at-large; however, the four board members whose terms are up — McGrew-Kane, Tracy Ellis-Weit, Rebekah Koznek, and Vy Pierce — are running unopposed for their seats, so they will not be on the ballot, according to the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office. The board seats will be determined by a trustee-area basis in the November 2028 elections, by which time a trustee map will be determined.

McGrew-Kane said the board will agendize the matter in open session at an upcoming board meeting, during which the district team will present terms of the settlement and outline a strategy to transition to the by-trustee-area election process and create trustee area maps with the public’s input.

"Rest assured we will provide the public with as much info as we can throughout this process," she concluded.

The board's decision comes after a lawsuit was filed against AUSD by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, which claims to be "the oldest Latino voter registration nonprofit, 501(c)3, empowering Latinos throughout the United States to mobilize voters."

The lawsuit filed on May 8, claims "The imposition of at-large elections by AUSD has resulted in vote dilution for the Latino residents and has denied them effective political participation in elections to the Board of Trustees for AUSD," and that "AUSD's at-large method of election for electing members to its Board of Trustees prevents Latino residents from electing candidates of their choice or influencing the outcome of AUSD’s elections."

The lawsuit is similar to those filed over the past decade against other legislative bodies, including Central Coast cities such as Santa Maria, Lompoc, Buellton, and Solvang, who have all switched to district-area elections after being sued.

After McGrew-Kane's announcement, the board began open session.

Supertintendent Dr. Thomas Bennett's recognized members of the Atascadero High FFA and their success at last month's California Mid-State Fair livestock competition.

Ag teacher and FFA co-advisor Elizabeth Mintey, an AHS alumna who returned to the school this year, noted the school's success as a group.

"AHS as a team won Champion Pen of 3 for goats, and in

showmanship, we had a winner in every species," she said. "We were the only FFA at the fair to do so."

Mintey also brought individual winners Garrett Azelton (Reserve Champion whiteface market lamb), McKenna Destefanis (Champion market goat, Supreme Champion market goat, and Reserve Champ sheep/goat showman), Krew Dadson (Champion light cross hog, and Champion slow bred and fed hog), and Karis Dadson (Champion Yorkshire barrow, and FFA hog showman).

The board later did a second reading on the district's policy on students' cellphones. Bennett disclosed that he decided on different policies for the high school, and the lower grades. For AHS, the district went with a policy to allow students to bring cellphones, with limited use during school hours, while for Atascadero Middle School, and the district's elementary schools, cellphones were banned from campus.

"In talking to the principals, we found the elementary and AMS principals wanted them off, and high school principals wanted to help students learn to limit that how to put them away," Bennett said. "So we went with differing policies for each."

Trustee Joey Arnold asked how they would monitors the cellphone use on campus, and Bennett said with administrators planning to spend more time on district campuses, he felt they would be able to monitor it well.

Koznek was in favor of the new cellphone policy.

"What we have here reflects all parties, moving forward," she said. "This is a good thing; we can come back and update this year."

In Study Session topics, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Renee Argain gave a Human Resources update for the district.

Argain began by pointing out that AUSD gained 68 new employees for the new school year, bringing it up to 621 employees overall.

Argain also talked about district priorities, which she listed as:

She said she'd be working with the new Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Dr. Benita Scheckel, to expand opportunities and expedite training for AUSD teachers.

"We've been having employees staying in their lane, but now we started to talk about cross-training," Argain said. "Pencil and paper methods were taking a lot of time, and we're looking for ways to speed it up — modernizing procedure so it’s not snail-like. We want more 2026 than 1996."

The next AUSD Board of Trustees meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 1, with closed session beginning at 5:30 and open session at 7 p.m.

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