Stockton Unified board approves provisional appointment process to fill Trustee Area 2 vacancy

The Stockton Unified School District Board of Education voted 5-0 during a special meeting to pursue a provisional appointment to fill the Trustee Area 2 vacancy and approved procedures, an ad hoc committee, interview questions and a timeline.

Cynthia Smith, who led the district presentation, told trustees that "the vacancy occurred on 09/22/2025" and that under the Education Code and board bylaw the board has 60 days to act, setting the legal deadline to take action at "11/21/2025." Smith said the board may either make a provisional appointment or order a special election and outlined the steps for each option.

The board’s decision matters because a provisional appointee assumes the powers of the office immediately but may be replaced if petitioners collect a sufficient number of valid signatures. "The signature requirement is 1.5% of the voters of trustee area 2 or 25 voters, whichever is greater," Smith said, and a petition must be filed within 30 days of the provisional appointment. Smith also noted the district would bear any special-election costs and that an earlier estimate based on other matters was about "$135,000." The district said it is working to provide a more precise cost tied to the Area 2 voter count.

Trustee Sofia Colon moved to fill the vacancy by provisional appointment and, after correcting the motion language, amended her motion to state: "I'd like to amend my motion to state, I'd like to, I motion to fill trustee area 2 vacancy by provisional appointment." President Stevens seconded the motion; the board then approved it in a roll-call vote with Trustee Silva absent.

Trustees also approved detailed procedures for the provisional appointment process, including forming an ad hoc committee to screen applications, publishing an application and advertising the vacancy, verifying that applicants reside in Trustee Area 2, conducting public interviews of qualified candidates and asking identical questions of each candidate for fairness. The board discussed whether to limit interview questions to six or keep 11 proposed questions; trustees expressed concerns about redundancy with the application and about managing interview time if many applicants apply, but the board approved the proposed questions and timeline.

The board president named Trustee Priess and Vice President Sofia Colon as the two members of the ad hoc committee; district counsel and staff said the ad hoc’s paper screening of applications is not a public process but that qualified candidates will be publicly named and interviewed in open session. Trustees asked that the trustee-area boundary map be made available and linked in the application materials so applicants can confirm residency in Area 2.

The board’s approved steps set a 30-day window after any provisional appointment for petitioners to gather signatures to force a special election; if a valid petition is filed and verified, the provisional appointment would be terminated and a special election scheduled. Absent a petition, an appointee would serve until the next regular board election, which the presentation referenced as November 2026.

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.