District 1 to Vote on Unification Response Tuesday
By Sarah Reynolds, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.
Sep. 10–Yuma Elementary School District 1 will vote on how it will respond to the possible combination of area school districts at its regular meeting Tuesday night.
The hearing is in response to the state School District Redistricting Committee’s proposals to unify all school districts in the state, including Yuma County.
A unified district encompasses all grades from kindergarten through high school.
The school redistricting effort began in 2005 when the commission was created by the state Legislature. Its goal is to review the state’s 108 elementary and 15 high school districts and consider how they could be combined.
There are nine districts in the county — seven elementary and two union high school districts — but none are unified.
The commission has drafted two possible plans for unification.
The county’s nine districts have been holding subcommittee meetings over the past three months to discuss forming a joint response to the commission.
Yuma Union High School District and the Crane and Somerton elementary districts submitted individual responses and signed on to a joint letter which proposed going with neither of the state plans. It supported the idea of putting the issue of unification before the voters. If it was supported, local officials would create a plan of their own during a five-year timeline.
District 1 held a public hearing on the matter in August to gather comment but no one from the public showed up to speak at the meeting. The governing board members discussed the matter amongst themselves and voted to delay action until September.
The deadline to submit local feedback to the commission is Sept. 15.
Unification will eventually have to be approved, or voted down, by the residents of each affected school district whether the state puts its plan on the ballot or another local plan is proposed.
Comment can be voiced publicly at the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday during the call to the public at the District 1 administrative office, 450 6th St.
Those who cannot attend or do not wish to speak can submit their opinion before the meeting via letters to the district office, 450 W. 6th St., or by e-mail to the school board at dlee@yumaed.org.
— SUMMARY OF PLANS
PLAN 1 would divide the entire county into two unified school districts.
-District A would be composed of Hyder, Mohawk Valley and Wellton elementary schools, feeding into Antelope Union High School in the east county.
-District B would encompass all other existing schools in the county from Yuma to San Luis, with elementary students moving into Yuma Union High School District’s five existing schools.
PLAN 2 would split up Yuma Union High School District and create four unified entities across the county:
-District A — Hyder, Mohawk Valley and Wellton elementary students would feed into Antelope Union High School in the east county.
-District B — District 1 would be combined with Kofa and Yuma High schools, as well as the new Gila Ridge High School near the Foothills area.
-District C — Crane and Somerton elementary districts would feed into Cibola High School.
-District D — The Gadsden Elementary School District and San Luis High School would become a unified district in San Luis, Ariz.
— N BRIEF:
-WHAT’S GOING ON: The Yuma Elementary School District 1 governing board is holding a regular meeting to vote on its response to the state school unification plans, as well as other issues.
-WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
-WHERE: District 1 administrative office, 450 W. 6th St. Those who cannot attend the meeting may submit comments to the office by mail or via e-mail to dlee@yumaed.org.
-WHAT DOES IT MEAN: A state commission has proposed unifying all Yuma County schools into configurations of K-12 unified districts. Local boards will submit feedback to that commission and a final plan will be drawn up based on that. These proposed redistricting plans will then be placed on the ballots in November 2008 for the members of each affected community to vote on. Every affected school district has to approve the plan on the ballot in order to unify.
-WHO DOES IT AFFECT: Parents, students and school employees in Yuma County.
-WHY DOES IT MATTER: Unification would change how schools in the area are organized, financed and administered.
— Sarah Reynolds can be reached at sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.
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