South County voters showed up at the polls for a unique scenario: consolidating three school districts into two and voting for school board members for two districts that don’t exist yet.
For the past couple of years, interest in consolidating school districts in King City and Greenfield has grown, and the State Board of Education approved the consolidation in July.
Early results on Measure J show 70 percent is in support, or 2,694 votes, to move forward with the consolidation (the measure needs a simple majority to pass).
Measure J will turn three districts, Greenfield Union and King City Union, both TK-8, and South Monterey County Joint Union School District, which operates four high schools, including Greenfield and King City high schools, into two districts: Greenfield Unified School District and King City Joint Unified School District, both TK-12.
Voters are also choosing five board members for each new school district. In both districts, GUSD and KCJUSD, voters have 10 candidates to choose from.
As of Nov. 4, for GUSD, Josefina Silva (16 percent), Sonia Heredia (13 percent), Lorena Chavez (12 percent), Juergen B. Smith (11 percent) and Paul Dake (9 percent) are the top five candidates. Dake is a trustee at SMCJUHSD. Smith and Heredia are currently board members at Greenfield Union. David Kong, also a Greenfield Union trustee, trails in eighth place with 8 percent of the vote.
As of Nov. 4, for KCJUSD, Linda Benway (15 percent), David Gaboni (12 percent), Leslie Girard (11 percent), Susan E. King (11 percent) and Yesenia Zavala (10 percent) are the top five candidates. King is a trustee at KCUSD. Benway, Gaboni and Girard are trustees at SMCJUHSD. Mindy Hunt, another SMCJUHSD trustee, trails in sixth place, 15 votes behind Zavala.
School administrators say unification brings various benefits, including students having the same school calendars, having only one district during basic education and reducing costs.
The consolidation process will take 18 months. During that time, the parties will negotiate division of assets, liabilities and staffing.
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