Friday, August 3, 2001

School board seeks input on new districts

This month, residents in the Fulton County School District can tell the Board of Education what they think of three plans for redrawing school board member district lines.

Dates, times and locations for the three public hearings are:

Thursday, Aug. 16, 10 a.m. at Webb Bridge Middle School, 4455 Webb Bridge Rd., Alpharetta;

Monday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m. at Dunwoody Springs Elementary School, 8100 Roberts Dr., Sandy Springs;

Tuesday, Aug. 21, 7 p.m. at Fulton County School System Administrative Center, 786 Cleveland Ave., SW, Atlanta.

Reapportionment, the process of changing school board district lines based on new Census data, began this June as board members developed alternative lines with the Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly. The three plans for new districts include:

Seven-member board (six districts, one at-large member). This alternative includes four districts in north county and two in south county, with one member elected by the entire voting population.

Seven-member board (seven districts). This alternative includes four districts in north county, two in south county, and one split district containing portions of Sandy Springs and East Point.

Nine-member board (nine districts). This alternative would increase the number of board members from seven to nine and include six districts in north county and three districts in south county.

After gathering public input, the board plans to meet Aug. 23 to select a reapportionment plan to submit to the Fulton County legislative delegation. The delegation then will submit a plan to the Georgia General Assembly for enactment during one of two special summer sessions scheduled for reapportionment business. The first session began Aug. 1, with a second session beginning upon completion of the first.

Once a Fulton County reapportionment bill is enacted by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, the U.S. Department of Justice must approve it.

The new school board member districts become official upon Justice Department approval. The school board chose to submit a reapportionment bill in one of the summer sessions so that lines are finalized before the April qualifying deadline for July 2002 school board elections. Depending upon the reapportionment plan adopted, three or more board seats will be up for election in 2002.

For information phone Jim Welsh, director of legislative affairs for the school system, at 404-763-6854.

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