HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Tuesday night kicks of a series of meetings the Hillsborough County School Board is hosting to receive public input on redistricting.
Now when you hear redistricting, don't panic, this won't change where your child attends. This will redistrict the area which each school board member oversees.
New data from the 2020 census was expected to be published in March. With COVID-19 delays, school board members are on a tighter timeline to even out the five districts in Hillsborough County.
There will be a meeting in each district, beginning Tuesday, to gather public input on the proposed redistricting maps.
According to the school board, Hillsborough County Public Schools’ Growth Management department reached out to Hillsborough County’s Geographic Information System (GIS) team to assist with providing the school board with three scenarios for the reapportionment of the single-member districts. The mapping criteria includes:
- Community integrity (keeping neighborhoods together)
- Population
- Maintaining minority demographic balance (37.3% African American or greater, District 5 - 2020 Census Data)
- Ethnicity Breakdown (ethnic and racial breakdown)
The school board will spend the next month gathering input from meetings and through its website on redistricting. On Dec. 10, there will be a specially-called meeting to narrow down options of redistricting. Then on the 16th, the board will vote on which map to go with.
By Dec. 31, 2021, the School Board will have approved the adjustments to the school board district boundaries. The adjusted boundaries will be effective for elections in 2022.
To submit your feedback online, click here.