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Public Invited To Redistricting Meeting

Lydia Quarles (right), Senior Policy Analyst at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government, and Dallas Breen, Senior Research Associate from the Institute, will meeting with School Board Trustees Monday night.

By Jack Gurner
Reporter

WATER VALLEY – School Board Trustees will address redistricting during a work session Monday night with representatives of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the District Office boardroom on Market Street and is open to the public, according to Super-intendent Kim Chrestman.

 The Board voted May 16 to hire the Mississippi State University based Stennis Institute after the 2010 Census reported population changes that caused deviations of as much as 38 percent in the five trustee districts.

Lydia Quarles, Senior Policy Analyst at the Institute, told board members that deviations in the districts should be no more than ten percent.

She said that under the “one man, one vote” section of the Voting Right Act of 1965 the districts within the school district would have to as close to equal population as possible. The way to achieve this would be to divide the total population of the school district by five.

Dallas Breen, Senior Research Associate from the Institute, who provided figures for the board, said that the ideal population for each of the five districts within the school district is 1389.

“What we are looking at here is getting these districts within 70 above and below,” he continued.

The Monday, Aug. 8, meeting is a hands-on, work session that could produce a map with district lines that meet Justice Department requirements. Quarles added that the process should take no more than two-and-a-half to three hours. There will be two required public hearings that will be scheduled later.

The next regular meeting of the school board will be held Aug. 22 beginning at 6:30 p.m., according to Superintendent Chrestman.

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