SCHOOL BOARD CHANGE URGED.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Muroc Joint Unified School District trustees are again considering changing the way the district elects its board members, after repeated resignations.

A ballot measure approved by voters in 1990 requires that trustees be elected from each of the district's three communities, but that has led to high turnover, particularly among Edwards Air Force Base representatives whose spouses have been transferred to other bases.

``I did a study for the board that showed that in the time we've had this measure in place, we have had a huge turnover in terms of base membership,'' Superintendent Mike Summerbell said. ``The average turnover of those serving in base seats was 21 months over the last 15 years.''

The board currently has two seats that must be filled by Edwards Air Force Base residents, two by residents from Boron, and one from North Edwards.

There is constant turnover because trustees holding the base seats are spouses of base personnel who are reassigned every few years by the Air Force.

When the base board members move away and their seats become vacant, there is sometimes scant interest from applicants and people are appointed because they are the only ones who have applied.

For example, the district announced in August that it was seeking applicants for the two base seats because those trustees were moving away.

Only one person, Air Force Sgt. David Ah-Sing, applied by the Sept. 8 deadline, and he was appointed to fill one of the seats. The deadline has been extended for applicants for the other seat, Summerbell said.

``The discontinuity and the fact that so many were being appointed with no competition, for those reasons, the board said we need to relook at this,'' Summerbell said.

The board at Wednesday's meeting approved asking Kern County school officials to review a district proposal to have one seat each representing the base, Boron and North Edwards, and two seats at-large.

If county officials agree that the change is worth considering, they would then seek public input and decide whether the issue should be put before voters as a ballot measure at the next general election.

Base parents, who have suggested that the base get more than two seats because base schools hold two-thirds of the district's enrollment, might see the possible change as hurting their representation. Summerbell said that under the proposal, they could persuade people to run for the at-large seats.

Summerbell added that trustees are elected to serve the entire district, not only the community in which they reside.

``The board's position is very much that when board members are sworn in, they are basically agreeing to represent everybody that is in our district. Even though they were voted in because they live in Boron, Edwards Air Force Base or North Edwards, once they take the oath they are there to represent the entire district,'' Summerbell said.

The ballot measure, Measure F, was approved by voters in 1990 to balance board representation during a time when the board majority was held by Boron business people.

In 1993, some residents tried to repeal the measure, but the Kern County Committee on School District Organization turned them down, saying the then-new system hadn't had time to prove itself.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com