​(Santa Ana)—Do you think certain neighborhoods or communities should be in a particular trustee area in the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD)? Here is an opportunity to have your voice heard.

The RSCCD Board of Trustees has scheduled a community workshop to provide community members the opportunity to review and comment on revised boundaries of the trustee areas for the RSCCD. The workshop is planned for Sunday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rancho Santiago Community College District, 2323 N. Broadway, Room 107, Santa Ana, CA 92706.

“This workshop serves an important function,” said RSCCD Board of Trustees President Phillip E. Yarbrough. “It allows community members to help shape the process of drawing the trustee area boundaries that will impact the operations of the college district for years to come. The Board encourages the community to take the time to make their opinions known.”

On February 6, 2012, the RSCCD Board of Trustees approved amendments to board policies changing the current at-large method of trustees to elections by individual trustee areas. That action increases the number of trustee areas from three to seven. At the February 27, 2012 meeting the Board selected National Demographics Corporation (NDC) to develop potential boundaries for the seven trustee areas.

NDC and the RSCCD Board of Trustees have identified the following criteria that may be utilized in the development of the new trustee area boundaries:

• Communities of interest;
• Visible (natural and man-made) boundaries;
• Compactness and contiguity;
• Continuity in office;
• Population growth;
• Preserve the core of existing districts; and
• No dilution of protected classes which impairs its ability to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election.

On March 26, 2012, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges approved a resolution paving the way for RSCCD to change from at-large to trustee area elections. The RSCCD Board of Trustees had previously requested that the Board of Governors authorize this change to trustee area elections as authorized by Assembly Bill No. 684 signed by Governor Jerry Brown in October 2011.

For more information, call Rancho Santiago Community College District at (714) 480-7452 or email lucarelli_anita@rsccd.edu.

About the Rancho Santiago Community College District
The mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is to respond to the educational needs of an ever-changing community and to provide programs and services that reflect academic excellence. Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of RSCCD, which serve the residents of Anaheim Hills, East Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, customized training for business and industry, and programs to train nurses, firefighters and law enforcement personnel.

# # #