Unified puts off redistricting again

I have to admit I was not surprised by the headline Unified puts off redistricting in today’s paper, however, I am extremely saddened and disappointed. Too many other things, like addressing special education needs and grade configuration, will now be delayed even further until the board makes a decision. Redistricting is the first step that needs to be taken, and the decision has been postponed for years:

It was delayed in March of 2004; the board then decided in August of that year to hold community forums to find out what the community wanted. These forums were held and the board received a full analysis a few months later.

A 2005 facility study showed that many schools were operating over the maximum capacity – citing the need for a massive redistricting.

In the beginning of the 2005 – 2006 school year, the board put redistricting as one of the big items that would be handled that year. However by February those plans to redistrict was put on hold once again.

In the beginning of the 2006 -2007 school year, the board again planned on addressing redistricting, along with grade configuration. I believe administration told the board that they would need a decision by February in order to implement the plan successfully. That date was changed to March 19th, but the board decided to postpone the decision once again, citing the need for more information.

I truly do understand that this is a difficult decision to make – but it is a decision that NEEDS to be made. Any decision made will probably infuriate 50% of the population – no decision will be a good one, politically-speaking, but the decision needs to be made quickly.

Does the board really want to postpone this for another year?