By Kathryn Reed

A specific individual will soon represent residents in the Lake Tahoe Unified and Lake Tahoe Community College districts.

While the respective five-member boards will still be accountable to the entire community, individually a minority of the greater area will elect them. Both entities will switch to district elections in 2014. And both will have the same boundaries.

The map to the left illustrates the districts. (The yellow looking area is two districts — yellow on the left, light green on the right. Double left click on the map for a larger view.)

All of this is to meet the 2002 California Voting Rights Act regulations. The purpose of the state mandate is to ensure all ethnicities are represented and that minority groups have a realistic opportunity to be elected. Both education institutions did an analysis that determined at-large elections could open them up to a lawsuit.

LTUSD board members voted Feb. 12 for the changes, while the college board did so in January.

Another change is elections for both will be in even number years. This means all the current board members will have a year added to their terms.

For LTUSD, Wendy David and Barbara Bannar were to have their terms expire later this year. Instead, they will retain their seats until fall 2014.

David told Lake Tahoe News she would not be seeking re-election.

For LTCC, it means Roberta Mason, Kerry David and Molly Blann have until 2014 before their terms end.

If no candidate comes forward for a particular district, the remaining board members can appointment a person.

Before all of this becomes official, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors and the state must approve various aspects of the plan.

In other action at the Tuesday LTUSD meeting:

• The board agreed to pursue the possibility of Tahoe Valley Elementary School becoming a Performing Arts Magnet School. A new principal will need to be hired no matter the direction the district goes because Mark Romagnolo is retiring at the end of the school year.

• The board agreed to the proposals approved in January by the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities Joint Powers Authority board for about $250,000 in field improvements. The three priorities are spending about $134,000 to upgrade the field at Sierra House Elementary, $90,000 for the softball field at South Tahoe High (though LTUSD still needs to kick in more than $40,000 for the bathrooms), and $20,000 for detailed planning to revamp the Al Tahoe fields. The money comes from voter approved Measure R.