School Board to decide on redistricting lines

Terry Webster

Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2001 | 10:21 a.m.

The Clark County School Board this week will decide where to draw the line -- for the seven political districts that comprise the school district.

Using national census data, the school district's Demographics, Zoning and Realty Department has drawn up new boundaries.

"The average district size is in the neighborhood of 196,000 to 197,000," said Dusty Dickens, director of the department.

A goal of the redistricting is preserving the total population and ethnic makeup of each of the districts.

Staffers also tried to keep any population changes within each district within 5 percent. Adding to the mix is the overall rapid growth of Clark County.

One of the biggest shifts in the proposal comes in District A, overseen by School Board President Mary Beth Scow.

"She lost around 75,000 people," Dickens said. "That doesn't necessarily mean voters or students, but she lost that many."

Meanwhile, Larry Mason, District D trustee, will gain more than 81,000 people.

The redistricting allows all of the board members to remain in the districts they currently represent. But changing the boundaries invites the chance that someone new may seek a School Board seat in a particular area, Dickens said.

While redrawing the boundaries, staffers begin a shell game of dividing up the population among the districts. The population can only be shifted within adjoining districts.

"We can't leapfrog a group of people into a district across town," Dickens said.

The redistricting will come as no surprise to board members Thursday, when they vote on the issue during their regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the education center board room, 2832 E. Flamingo Road.

"We have been working with all of the trustees," Dickens said. "They understand why it needs to be done. But it's not easy, especially for the districts that are losing consituents, parents and schools they may have worked with for many years."