LAHS Principal Carter Payne, Topper Freshman Academy Principal Jill Gonzales, left, and LAHS Vice Principal Renee Dunwoody sport Topper colors for their recent presentation to the School Board. Screenshot/ladailypost.com
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
The 2020 Census is complete and the data has been analyzed. One use of census data is the redistricting of government bodies and boards. The time has come for the Los Alamos School Board to begin the process of redistricting.
The Board is responsible for its own redistricting and heard a presentation Feb. 24 by Michael Sharp, vice president of Research & Polling Inc., on the ins and outs of redistricting.
“Redistricting will take place in 2022 for the election to be held November 2023,” Sharp explained. “It will draw the lines that determine which voters are represented by each district based on the 2020 census.”
Los Alamos Public Schools is divided into five districts with an elementary school in each one. According to census data, the School District now contains 19,916 residents, an increase of 1,469 people (8.2 percent) since 2020, Sharp said.
“About 3,883 people in each district would be the ideal from a population standpoint,” he said. “Change in population may be unequal in the various districts according to where there has been growth.”
There are other factors to be considered when redistricting, Sharp said:
- Respecting political subdivisions/neighborhoods/geographic boundaries;
- Respect cultural/historical traditions;
- Maintaining core of existing districts;
- Avoid pairing board members; and
- Other communities of interest.
“Equal population is the main driver,” Board Member Ellen Specter said. “It is misunderstood why we have these strangely shaped districts. This explains it. It’s important for the public to know that districts are based on the number of people living in the district, not on registered voters or on number of enrolled children.”
Specter moved that the School Board work with Research & Polling to set up a redistricting timeline. The motion passed unanimously. Member Erin Green was not present for the vote.
Specter stressed that there must be enough time for public input, which she said, should not take place during the summer.
Also on the Board’s agenda Feb. 24 was the annual report on Los Alamos High School, delivered by Principal Carter Payne, with input from some of his staff members. Payne said things were “back to normal(ish)” at LAPS. Making the transitions from at home, to hybrid, to in-person learning has not been easy. It has required tough conversations and resilience on the part of parents, staff and students, Payne said. He commended the stakeholders on their handling of the challenges surrounding COVID 19.
Academic matters aren’t all there is to LAPS, Payne explained. A little more than 50 percent of the student body participates in at least one sport. There also are more than 50 clubs at the school.
“Getting students involved in something can make all the difference in a student’s success,” Payne said.
The Board also spent time preparing for its meeting with Los Alamos County representatives about joint projects being considered by LAPS and the County. That meeting took place Feb. 28 and will be covered in a separate story.