Rockmart resident Carolyn Wiliams askes the board members questions about the redistricting process during the Tuesday morning meeting (Jake Carter/thepolkfishwrap.com)
Former school board member Joe McLendon expresses his views in favor of reducing the size of the school board during the Tuesday evening meeting (Jake Carter/thepolkfishwrap.com)
A copy of the nine district map is available for viewing at the Polk School District Central office
A copy of the seven district map is also posted at the central office. (Jake Carter/thepolkfishwrap.com)
The board, which currently has nine members is looking at two plans to adjust the districts for population changes in the 2010 census.
One plan is to redraw the lines of the nine current districts to keep the population even in each one.
The other plan does the same thing with seven districts.
School board members are not voted on at-large in Polk County, so districts must be fairly represented to comply with voter laws.
"We want to make sure the public knows that this is just redistricting board members," Superintendent Marvin Williams said. "This process will not affect where children go to school or anything like that."
Two of the four scheduled public input meetings were held on Tuesday, one at 10 a.m. and one at 6 p.m. Few people turning out for either.
Carolyn Williams asked the board members present at the early meeting what changes voters would face if they went with seven districts.
The board explained that their would be no changes resulting from either plan to voters although other changes in the county brought on by the census could change precincts.
Former board member Joe McLendon spoke during the evening meeting Tuesday expressing concern that no one else from the community was present.
"I want to applaud you for looking at decreasing the size of this board. I've always supported the idea that you could do more with less," McLendon said.
McLendon went on to say that he would even be in favor of the board going a step further and reducing the number of members to five with at large voting.
When asked their stances on each plan during the evening meeting Tuesday, several board members stated they had no preference but listed the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Board member Tommy Sanders said he was in favor of staying with nine members because he felt the board had enacted too many changes recently--increasing the millage rate, changing the dress code and the school calendar.
"We can't concentrate on being a board and overseeing school policy and the budget with all of these changes," Sanders said.
Several board members were more in favor of the seven district map.
They cited a breakdown of Georgia school boards by county noting that most counties got by with seven or even five members boards, including counties that were much larger than Polk such as Gwinnett and Cobb.
"We want the public to know we're are very early on in this process, and we need their input," School Board Chairman Grady McCrickard said.
McCrickard said that he did not want the public to think that the board had made up its mind on the process either way yet or that they would not listen to the public's opinion.
Two more community input sessions have been scheduled: Nov. 8, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and Nov. 15, at 6 p.m. at the central office
Once a plan is decided on by the school board it will have to be introduced to the Georgia Assembly as local legislation by either Senator Bill Heath or Representative Rick Crawford before being signed by the Governor and approved by the Justice Department.
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