From a CCS press release:
During its meeting on Thursday, December 17, the Chatham County Board of Education voted to approve the following related to its residency districts: Resolution Supporting Revising Board of
Education Residency Districts to be Identical to the Election Districts for County
Commissioners. The resolution will be sent to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners.
Presently, Chatham County Board of Education members must live in designated districts but are elected countywide. They currently represent four districts that are consistent with voter election precincts.
Board of Education residency districts are different from County Commissioner residency
districts. The Chatham County Board of Commissioners residency districts were revised in 2007 to be more balanced population-wise. The present Board of Education residency districts have two Board members representing the same district (district 4).
The Board of Education and Superintendent Robert Logan are requesting permission for the County and Board of Education attorneys to research which, the General Assembly or the Commissioners, has the authority to consider this change.
Submitted by:
Beth S. McCullough, Public Information Officer, Chatham County Schools
beth@chatham.k12.nc.us (919) 542-3626
I was at the board meeting last Thursday when this was discussed. The Board of Commissioners has permission from the legislature to set its own districts. It is unclear if they have the authority to set the Board of Education districts. The BOC wanted a request from the BOE before they would ask they own attorney to explore if this was permitted. (The BOE attorney stated at the meeting that he did not think the BOC had the authority.) If the BOC does not have the authority to change the BOE districts, then the filing for the 2010 election will be based on the current BOE lines (2 seats in district 4 - western part of the county and 1 seat in district 3 - Moncure west along the southern part of the county). The BOE could then ask the legislature to change the districts for the 2012 election. This issue came up for several reasons. First, \the Board of Elections, using newer technology, determined that Kathy Russell does not actually live in her district. Second, there is an open seat due to Col Totten's death. Third, the districts are strange, with District 4 in the western part of the county having 2 seats and the other 3 districts each having one. Fourth, it is confusing to have different BOC and BOE districts. (As an example, when I was first asked to run for BOE, I thought I was in District 3, because that's the BOC district I'm in.) Whatever the reason for moving on this issue at this time, I think it is a good long-term idea. BOE candidates were asked in the last election what the BOE districts should look like, and this is exactly what I said - make them the same as the BOC, and let the commissioners make the decision. My reasons were to cut down on confusion, and to save school board time and energy for school-related issues, instead of taking time drawing election districts, duplicating the effort of the commissioners.
