Phoenix Union Begins Redistricting Process for Governing Board Election Wards

Phoenix Union High School District will begin the process of re-defining the boundaries of its five single-member governing board districts or wards in January, with community meetings scheduled in each ward for citizen input.

The school district is complying with a 1990 consent decree born out of a court case to review, and if necessary, re-draw the boundaries based on decennial census information in order to keep each ward as “nearly equal” in population, as possible, and in conformance with voting rights requirements. Because of rapid population growth in some areas of the school district, and population loss in other areas, new ward boundaries have to be created. A map of the current governing board wards is included.

Residents of the five wards will have the opportunity to learn about the process and provide input at the following community meetings:

Ward 4 (located within the Phoenix Central Neighborhood boundaries): Monday, January 23 at Metro Tech High School, 1900 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix, 85015. Banquet Room @ 6 p.m.

The reapportioned wards will not be in effect until 2014, when the five single-district governing board terms end. The two at-large governing board seats will be determined in the 2012 election.

The new wards should be equal in population size, and should not dilute minority voting strength. The population of each ward should be approximately 130,000. However, based on the 2010 Census, Ward 1 in southwest Phoenix and Laveen has grown to 169,642 residents, while Wards 2, 3 and 4 in South and Central Phoenix are all less than 120,000. Ward 5 in West Phoenix is at 134,846, which is close to the ideal size.

Phoenix Union has selected Research Advisory Services, Inc. to manage the redistricting process, including the community meetings. Research Advisory Services will make a preliminary presentation to the Governing Board regarding the process and timeline, Thursday, January 12 at 6:30 p.m.at the district office, 4502 N. Central Avenue. This company also provides an online feature to enable citizens to create their own ward map for consideration. Research Advisory Services, Inc. will present options to the Governing Board in March.

Source: Phoenix Union High School District