The public and members of the educational communities are invited to a public forum hosted by the School District Redistricting Commission (SDRC) on June 10th, 6:30 pm to review the plans that will be on the ballot to create six new unified school districts in Maricopa County. The plans will affect students at 34 of the county's non-unified school districts. The plans involve four defined regions of the county, including Central Maricopa, North Central Maricopa, the East & the West Valleys. At the forum, voters will learn the details of the plan, some background information on each of the affected districts, & be able to ask questions of the Commissioners involved in the unification efforts.
The forum will be held at the Phoenix College's Dome Conference Room, 3310 N. 10th Ave., in Phoenix (Osborn site south off of 11th Ave. & Flower Street, parking on north side of building complex).
To view county-by-county details of the proposed plan, visit the Arizona Department of Education Web site & download the report entitled “Attachment A: Approved Redistricting Plans.”
Additional public forums will be scheduled, starting in late summer/fall, for voters in the eight other Arizona counties impacted by the plans. These include Cochise, La Paz, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai & Yuma counties. Additional forums for Maricopa County addressing the West Valley and East Valley plans may also be planned for late summer.
Qualified Maricopa County voters in the 34 affected school districts will have the opportunity to approve or reject the redistricting plan by voting on a set of ballot questions during the November 2008 elections. If approved, the districts will be unified for July 1st, 2010, or the beginning of the 2010 school year.
In 2005, a law was passed by the Arizona Legislature to appoint a Commission to study Arizona’s schools & make recommendations for creating unified districts out of the current set of 108 common school districts & 15 union districts. A unified district is one that is geographically defined & offers aligned curriculum for students Kindergarten through grade 12. In December 2007, the Commission formally presented its recommendations to Governor Napolitano.