Could your school board member change? Board considering new districts for Lafayette Parish
The Lafayette Parish School Board will hold a public hearing on its reapportionment plan for the district on Wednesday, giving members of the public the chance to weigh in on how school board representation may change in the coming years.
Every 10 years, the school board is required to redraw its districts using the latest census data — a process called reapportionment. Over the last several months, the school board has held workshops with Geographic Planning and Demographic Services to come up with the new map.
These districts only affect which board members represent each area of the parish. It does not impact school zoning.
The public hearing will be Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at the school board’s office at 113 Chaplin Drive before the regular school board meeting at 5:30 p.m.
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The school board has until June 7, 2023, to submit its plan to the Louisiana Secretary of State. The first election using the new districts would be October 14, 2023.
Many of the current districts weren’t too far from the “ideal population,” which is the parish’s population divided by the number of districts. The board is required to get the new district populations reasonably close to the ideal, which is 26,861.
With the current map, four of the nine districts were within 5% of the ideal population, but three — Districts 3, 4 and 9 — were significantly off. District 9 is 53% higher than the ideal, while Districts 3 and 4 are 23% and 20% below the mark, respectively.
Keeping at least two of the nine districts majority-Black was also a consideration. Around 27% of the Lafayette Parish population indicated they were Black alone or Black along with another race during the 2020 census.
The proposed map the school board will discuss has two majority-Black districts and all districts are within 6% of the ideal population.
The school board has a vote on the reapportionment plan scheduled for the regular meeting that immediately follows the public hearing.
School board to discuss high school sweatshirt color, RFP for school bus video streaming
During its regular meeting, the school board is likely to vote on changes to the dress code for high school students, specifically on what color sweatshirts students at each school will be allowed to wear.
Currently, each high school has limited color options, with the student handbook specifying that students can wear polo shirts (or t-shirts purchased at the school in some cases) with the designated color. The rule was implemented in 2016 as a safety measure to allow principals, law enforcement and staff members to identify unauthorized people on campus.
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The rule change would allow for sweatshirts largely matching the color of the polo shirts.
The board is also expected to vote on awarding AngelTrax the contract to install and maintain a video streaming operation on LPSS school buses. AngelTrax is an Alabama-based company that specializes in mobile video surveillance.
The board will also hear from two of the candidates running to represent Louisiana’s Third Congressional District. Lafayette prosecutor Holden Hoggatt, a Republican, and Lafayette educator Tia LeBrun, a Democrat, are listed on the board’s agenda.
The agenda does not list incumbent Republican Rep. Clay Higgins on the agenda or any of the others challenging Higgins for his seat, including Democrat Lessie Olivia Leblanc, Libertarian Guy McLendon, Republican Lane Payne Jr., Republican Jake Shaheen, and Independent Gloria R. Wiggins.
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette school board holding public hearing on proposed district map
