Houston School District to Redraw Voting Map
July 9th, 2014
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Last year, the Texas Education Commissioner closed the North Forest school district and merged it with Houston.
That annexation brought not just new students but also more than 50,000 new residents.
Now the Houston Independent School District is trying to adjust its voting map so that all nine of its voting districts still have the same number of people.
To explain the changes, HISD is holding a series of meetings this month.
“What is important to us is you know making sure that everyone in the HISD area they understand who their trustees are and understand that they can address their concerns with them,” said Sheleah Reed with HISD.
Last year, some North Forest leaders were concerned that the merger would dilute their community’s voting rights. North Forest is historically African American and increasingly Hispanic.
“I don’t think this map takes away their voter privileges or rights. Really what we’re doing in this kind of cycle of these hearing, is making sure that we’ve addressed those concerns,” Reed said.
Reed says District 2 and District 8 will absorb the North Forest voters. Those areas currently have an African American and Hispanic trustee.
One of those trustees, Rhonda Skillern-Jones who represents District 2, says she’s pleased with the plan.
“The draft appears to be fair and equitable as well as under the constitutional guidelines. It does not disenfranchise any specific group of voters and it gives fair representation to what appears to be all nine trustee districts,” Skillern-Jones said.
Here is the schedule for the remaining meetings on the HISD redistricting plan:
Pin Oak Middle School, 4601 Glenmont, 77401, July 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 West 18th Street, 77092, July 10 at 6:30 p.m.
Austin High School, 1700 Dumble St, 77023, July 15 at 6:30 p.m.
The school board could vote on the proposal as early as August.
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Houston Public Media, Laura Isensee
Disclaimer : The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Houston Association of REALTORS®
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