18 Apr Antioch School Board Could Soon Let ‘Students Represent Students’

The Antioch Unified school board unanimously approved a policy Wednesday to select up to three student trustees annually.(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Antioch Unified School District students are one step closer to getting a chance to serve alongside school board members. 

The Antioch Unified school board unanimously approved a policy Wednesday to select up to three student trustees annually. The policy sets the board up to receive student members as early as the 2025-26 school year.

“It’s really important that students represent students,” said interim Superintendent Matt Wayne. “By organizing it this way, any high school student will have the opportunity to be a student board member during their high school career.” 

Under the policy, one student each from a traditional, alternative and continuation school would be elected by students to serve on the board for the school year. Students must be juniors or seniors in good academic standing to apply. 

AUSD traditional schools are Antioch High School and Deer Valley High School. Alternative high schools are Dozier-Libbey Medical High School and Prospects High School. Continuation schools eligible are Bidwell High School and Live Oak High School. 

The school in each category will be rotated annually. 

The policy, which aims to enhance “student voice and strengthen the connection between students” and the board, outlines an election process to allow schools to choose their student board members. 

In addition to academic requirements, students must also meet certain eligibility criteria for extracurricular activities and receive parent or guardian consent. 

Applicants will need to complete an application form and provide a personal statement when applying. Students are not required but encouraged to also provide a recommendation from one staff member.

The policy, which board president Antonio Hernandez first brought forward in 2022, also offers protections if the position is eliminated in the future. 

“I love the protection piece for our students to make sure their voices are heard,” said board member Jag Lathan. 

The addition would allow students to establish the student trustee position by petitioning the board. At least 500 or 10% of high school students enrolled, whichever is lower, would have to sign the petition for it to be valid. The petition would require the board to include at least one student board member within 60 days. 

Student board members would also be reimbursed for mileage to and from board meetings and other district events. 

Finalizing Moller Ranch sale

The Antioch Unified school board finalized a decade-old sale of part of the Moller Ranch property to the Albert Seeno-owned Skyranch Land Investors, putting an even older controversial land deal to rest. 

The Moller Ranch sale, which included 13.43 acres to Skyranch alongside 191.45 acres to the East Bay Regional Park District, was approved in 2014 but Skyranch’s portion had not been finalized until Wednesday. 

The $1.45 million deal in 2014 — $17,999 of which came from Skyranch — came nearly two decades after AUSD bought the property for $2.6 million in hopes of building schools on the site. 

The property, located on Somersville Road near the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, was too steep for building, according to reporting at the time by the Bay Area News Group. The property “no longer serves a current educational purpose,” the staff report said. 

EBRPD’s portion sold for $305.7 million and expanded East Contra Costa’s largest regional park. 

Skyranch is using its bought portion as an abatement area, district staff said, but could also sell its portion to the Park District.

“I think they’re going to end up deeding it over to the Park District because it’s open area,” said district staff. 

Skyranch’s portion is located near the Sky Ranch II residential subdivision, an approved 415-home plan in unincorporated Contra Costa. Sky Ranch II received approval for the project in 2002 from the Pittsburg planning commission before Seeno withdrew his application due to criticisms that a full environmental study was not done. Pittsburg officials later approved the project in 2006. 

The next Antioch Unified school board meeting is May 14.