Please join us this Monday, March 28th at 6pm in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge (8470 Goodwood Blvd, BRLA 70806) for what is possibly the most meaningful step in the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Redistricting Process.
On Wednesday, March 30th the EBR School Board will choose a single redistricting plan for later ratification. Whether we will be celebrating their proposal or fighting to oppose it between March 30th and the end of April depends heavily on how much effort we make to promote our “map of choice.” This Monday we will discuss the recommendations from an independent demographer who works with the Power Coalition and examine poster-size illustrative maps to determine which map we should support. We will guide you through the process of submitting a comment for the public record via the online portal and discuss testifying in person at the March 30th meeting. Please join us Monday, March 28th at 6pm to take part in the democratic process!
WHICH MAP TO CHOOSE?
Currently there are 19 maps still under consideration. There has been little to no discussion of most of these maps by the board. That prohibits members of the public from making an informed decision and participating in the process. Thankfully, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice asked Tony Fairfax, an independent demographer, to evaluate all 19 plans. His report is a valuable resource for community members as they consider the merits of the proposed maps.
According to Fairfax, most of the 19 maps—including most of the 9 single-member plans—do not appear to abide by required criteria, and if the board adopts one of those maps, they would likely invite a legal challenge. Therefore, it’s important to focus on the maps which do abide by the Voting Rights Act, and thankfully, there are some that do and a few which score well on other important criteria.
Here are the top-rated plans:
Finney 15
Ware-Collins (11)
Finney 13
Finney 14
Finney 11
Finney 12
All six of these plans stay within the acceptable deviation range (+/-5%) for the ideal district size (Equal Pop). And they all adhere to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Each has an appropriate number of majority-Black districts in accordance with the overall demographics of the school system boundaries (VRA Sect 2, Maj Min Dst). Other criteria were also considered. The summary of the report contains a succinct explanation for the plans’ rankings.
Summary
After reviewing the final plan choices, using the “Best” criteria index, Finney 15 and Ware-Collins were the top two plans. These plans had 5 and 4 out of 10 “Best” criteria totals, respectively. Each of these plans performed better overall than any of the other seventeen plans that were analyzed. However, there are other plans included after the criteria elimination process. These plans consist of the following: Finney 11, Finney 12, Finney 13, and Finney 14. Finally, in order to choose the final plan, the ultimate criteria may be determining the acceptable number of “districts” that the EBR School Board desires.
Noticeably missing from the top ranked plans is a map with 9 single-member districts. As much as I’d like to be able to declare that’s because no 9 single-member district plan can possibly satisfy the redistricting criteria, that isn’t the case. It is possible to draw a 9 single-member plan which would rank highly on the list. The problem is no such 9 single-member plan was submitted for consideration.
Twelve 9-member plans were submitted. Seven of the twelve failed to stay within the acceptable population deviation for each district. Those seven plans should be deemed unacceptable since they fail to adhere to the deviation range of +/- 5% established by the school board.
Four of the twelve 9-member plans fail to adhere to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because they have too few majority-Black districts.
The only 9-member plan which remains is EBR SB Plan 6, but it is “significantly noncompact.” Many of its districts are noticeably gerrymandered. In its District 5, a precinct is split down to a sliver in order to tie two larger areas together.
The demographer’s report contains a detailed explanation for eliminating EBR SB Plan 6 and other maps from consideration.
On Wednesday, March 30th, the School Board will hold a special meeting to select a single redistricting plan. School Board members need to hear from us before the March 30th meeting.
Before you decide which map to support, please join us on Monday, March 28th at 6pm at the Unitarian Church for an important meeting. We will review the demographer’s report in more detail. We will examine poster-size illustrative maps of the top six plans. We will discuss the merits of the maps to decide which one to support. We will review the process to submit comments via the online portal and review suggestions for public testimony. Community engagement at this step is critically important. Please make every effort to attend.
If you join us, please plan to wear a mask while in the sanctuary. The Unitarian Church continues to follow masking guidelines indoors. I hope to see you there!