BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
FLEMING ISLAND— The Clay County School Board held a workshop on Sept. 9 to begin the process of redrawing voting districts for its five members.
State law requires the board to realign its five voting districts every 10 years, based on the U.S. census.
School board attorney J. Bruce Bickner told board members they must complete the work by Dec. 31
Jim Fossa, the district’s coordinator for planning and intergovernmental affairs, presented two options to board members for redrawing district maps.
He told board members that with the census indicating over 218,000 residents in Clay County, and with five school board seats, each district should have approximately 43,000 people. He added that state law allows districts to vary up to 10% from actual population numbers, and indicates district lines should follow natural boundaries, like rivers, streets and railroads.
Fossa added that when recommending new districts to board members, he also wanted the new boundaries to comply with the current districts as much as possible.
While Clay County commissioners run in single-member districts, with voters in each district only voting on the commissioner in their district, school board members run county-wide or at-large, with all Clay County voters casting ballots for each school board district. School board voting districts are only used to determine residency requirements for each candidate.
The Lake Region is in school board District 3, represented by Tina Bullock.
District 3 covers nearly all of the county’s western half, reaching from Putnam County in the south to Duval in the north.
In the Middleburg area, the district boundary follows the south and north prongs of Black Creek, and in the north includes much of Jennings State Forest.
Under both options presented by Fossa, the eastern boundaries of District 3 would be pushed west, reflecting population growth in other parts of Clay County.
Board member Ashley Gillhousen, who represents southeastern Clay County, including Green Cove Springs, said she wanted the school board to consider mirroring the district boundaries of the board of county commissioners. She added that voters are sometimes confused when they vote for one district in a county commission race and for a different district in a school board race.
During the workshop, she asked her colleagues to seek a joint meeting with the board of county commissioners to talk about aligning the two jurisdiction’s voting districts.
However, Bickner and board member Janice Kerekes argued against Gillhousen’s proposal.
“I think we govern ourselves and we should pick the lines that we like,” said Kerekes, “and then if the BCC wants to mimic our lines, by all means they can. If the BCC wants to change their numbers, they can, and it won’t affect our board.”
Added Bickner: “I can promise you the BCC is never looking out for your interests, ever.”
Gillhousen also floated the idea of the school board converting to single-member districts like the board of county commissioners.
“The other question that I get from constituents a lot is:” she said, “Why do I vote in every school board race, but I only vote in one county commission race?”
However, that idea also generated little support among her fellow board members.
“Campaigning is brutal when you’re campaigning county-wide, we all know that,” said Board Chair Mary Bolla, “but it gives everybody in the county the choice to choose their representatives, whereas for county commission, I only get to vote for one, and the other four I have no input on.”
