2 comments
The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education on Thursday received from the Redistricting Commission the final map that outlines the boundaries for each voting district for the next decade.
Redistricting is done every 10 years using U.S. Census data to create voting districts that contain roughly the same number of people.
During its meeting on Thursday, the school board voted 4-2 to receive the commission’s final map, which is identified as the “green map.” Board members Kimberly Kenne and Michelle Richardson Bailey voted in the negative against the motion.
“I regret that I will not be able to support this map. This was a speedy process,” Kenne said. “The maps were created in less than a week’s span of time and there was limited public input.”
Kenne reiterated that changes in the maps could affect communities of interest and disenfranchise thousands of voters.
“This map moves almost 20,000 residents from one district to another including almost 7,400 residents who would switch from voting in 2022 to 2024, resulting in their being seven years since they last had the chance to vote for the school board.”
At the same meeting, board member Patrick Cahalan raised a motion to allow the board to make changes to the proposed map. His proposal however failed to get the required two-thirds vote.
The “green map” approved by the Redistricting Commission establishes District 1 with a total population of 29,249, District 2 with a population of 29,352, District 3 with a population of 29,277, District 4 with a population of 29,243, District 5 with a population of 29,274, District 6 with a population of 28,988 and District 7 with a population of 29,457.
Brenda Morales, Project Coordinator for consultant Allegra Consulting said less than 10 percent of the PUSD population will be moved from one district to another once the map is implemented.
The nine-member Redistricting Commission was established on July 29, 2021, with the directive to balance the populations among the existing districts within PUSD.
Redistricting Commission member Allisonne Crawford said the commission met twice per month from August to February and held four public hearings to gather public input regarding the mapping scenarios to meet its February 28 deadline to submit new boundaries to the PUSD board.
The commission will bring back the “green map” for formal approval by the PUSD school board on February 24. The approved map will be submitted to Los Angeles County by March 1.
The commission’s final map can be viewed here:
https://www.pusd.us/cms/lib/
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
